Breathe
by Ambrel
Summary: It had only taken three days for everything to occur and now that it all had, I think that we were all a little changed. ***Piper/Finn***
1. Chapter 1

Breathe.

Its not that bad. Not really. It was like anything else I'd ever done. Take aim… line up the sights… shoot. It was easy. I could do this. It was just like target practice, except this time, I had to pick out a point to _not_ see. I had to carefully aim myself away.

Breathe.

That was the trick. I had to remember to breathe. I could get out of this. Easy. She wouldnt even know I was here. She would carry one about her business as though nothing had ever happened.

To be fair, its not like anything DID happen. Right?

Breathe.

Have to remember to breathe. If I don't breathe, I'll die, right?

If she realized I was in the room, I'd die anyway. But I guess breathing is better than suffocating. Besides, the only way she could possibly know I was really here is if I made a noise. It wasn't like she could see me.

I hate these small, small rooms. There isn't much room for maneuvering around. And its so easy to pick up on air currents when they change. But maybe that's just me. The air currents thing, that is. I have to pay special attention to the way the wind moves when I take my shots. The cold air meeting the hot air..

Hot… air…

Hot….

I need to remember to breathe. If I start choking, it's all over for me. I don't think I would make it. She'd turn me into a Finn-shaped smudge in the wastelands. And who knows, whatever she has in that mysterious collection of crystals might be more to her liking.

More painful.

I really, really wish that door was open.

Actually, I wish that I hadn't done this in the first place. I mean, seriously, I know I goof up all the time. And I even know its pretty much always my fault. And I also realize that everyone else knows it too. But this?

I should have seen the outcome of this coming miles away.

But I'm a bit dense sometimes.

Ok, well, I'm dense all the time. But even I don't deserve this.

I am starting to get the feeling that I will be here all night. All night, stuck here, until the morning comes and I am revealed in all my cowering glory.

She's gonna kill me. And I know I'll deserve it.

I will probably even welcome it. Its going to be a miserable night if I have to stay like this all night.

I wonder if she is a light sleeper?

Breathe, Finn. Breathe.

She sure has a nice…

AAARGH! Dammit! I need to breathe, not hyperventilate!

Its not like I've never seen that before in any case.

Ok, well, maybe not… in reality. But I have a good imagination.

I wonder if Aerrow's going to kill me too? If he does, I bet Radarr would help him. Evil little rat thing. And Stork… who knows?

Stork would probably be on my side. I know Junko would. As much as I know Aerrow would be mad at me for compromising the trust of the team or something like that.

I only did it as a joke, I swear. I never expected it to go this far. She wasn't supposed to stay! Its only five in the afternoon for crying out loud!

Do all girls do that? I mean, do they all just hang out in their rooms alone… wearing stuff like that?

I'm actually glad she has that on. I can't even imagine what I would be going through if I…

Wait. Never mind. I can imagine. I'm a _guy_. It's not like it's a complicated idea.

And I thought I was having a hard time before.

Breathe. Breathe, dammit.

I wonder if she will ever go to bed. I guess…

Aw, crap. She's playing with her crystals now. In her underwear! Wait… I don't think that thing can be classified as underwear. It certainly looks like something you wouldn't wear around company, but I could be wrong. I do not understand girls. I never will. I'm just glad all I have to do is pull on my boxers in the morning.

Wait! There's s a knock on the door! I'm saved! Its…

Junko? And he's asking for me?

Why would he look for me in HER room? It would be the last place I would be!

Well… normally it would be.

Breathe.

Aw, crap. My hands are starting to get sweaty. Junko left when he didn't see me and there was no room for me to edge out of the room! Damn him for filling up the doorway!

And whats worse, I have to sit here and not think about a half-dressed girl…no, woman who is standing right in front of me. Hello! Hormones anyone?

You know, I think I might actually end up dead before the duration….wears…off…

Oh, hell.

I forgot that this stupid crystal has a duration. I probably only have a few minutes left! I'm so dead. Maybe I can blame my presence here in her room on the black gorge madness. I could have a relapse, right? I think Stork would back me up.

Maybe not. I know how Piper gets when I mess with her crystals. And this could definitely be counted as 'messing'.

And maybe I'll just be able to die painlessly of embarrassment. Or hormone overload.

Weirder things have happened, right?

She's turning the lights down low. Thank goodness. Maybe I'll be less likely to-

I just heard a click. A click! It was the lock! Piper locks her door at night?! Why!? Its not like any of us would try to sneak in on her!

Well… not normally. Besides, its not like being here is my fault. And I think its safe to say that I won the bet. Not even Aerrow found me this time.

And why is she going to bed so early anyway?

Ok, Finn. Breathe. She hasn't noticed you and…. Aw man. The crystal is wearing off.

Uhm… its not the only thing that has come off. I'm a lucky, lucky guy, for the sole fact that her back is to me. That, and the fact that I can pretty much guarantee that no one else has EVER seen what I am witnessing right now. Hell-ooo bragging rights! With any luck, I'll be able to wait until…

Oh..

My…

God.

Piper… is hot.

Wow.

I can feel my jaw. Its keeping my feet company. And I am just so very lucky that she decided to sleep facing the wall tonight, because I don't think I would have the presence of mind to be stealthy if I were even smart enough to realize that I should. But come ON. A thin sheet covering a female body like that? Kinda falling off of her shoulder and bunching slightly at the narrow part of her waist?

Her breathing was deep and regular…

Breathe, Finn. BREATHE! Need air!

Aw, dammit. I'm hyperventilating.

I think I need to go on autopilot. When in doubt, don't think. That's my motto. Its gotten me out of tough situations before. Lets see if I can get out of here…

The door is almost closed behind me… and she said something! CRAP!

I don't think I have ever moved so fast in my entire life. I have never been so happy to dash madly into the bridge and scare the living crap out of everyone else. I look around at each of their surprised faces.

"I win!" I hear myself crowing, "And you will never guess what I-"

"Never guess what, Finn?" I think my blood just turned to ice. I don't even remember turning around.

There was Piper. Wearing a bathrobe.

Man… I'm gonna die.

OOO

Ok. I know that was weird, but it was just inspiration that struck me, kinda like a rock hurled at my unwitting noggin. Let me know what you think. Maybe I will do more with it if its interesting enough to people.

I do have one small problem with it that I may have to go back and address. I dislike using present tense and I think I may have slipped past tense in there sometimes. I'll probably revise it to past tense later on. Its just that the aforementioned rock upside my head told me to write in first person present.

Thank you for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note- I hate starting a chapter with a note from me, but you'll notice that the tense has changed to first person, past tense. It fits better this way, with the rest of what I have in mind. I hope if doesnt throw off anyone's enjoyment. Thanks for reading this far!

OOO

I was so dead. I mean, she was standing RIGHT there, giving me the evil eye, just like she knows how to do so well. It's the same look she gives us whenever we go against her plans or goof up at some fancy dinner. I hate that look. Mostly it's because it's usually directed at me. And not because I care or anything!

It's just a creepy stare.

But she stood there for at least a minute. And when you are being glared at that hard for over ten seconds, a minute is almost like your whole lifetime.

Before I could do or say anything, though, she gave me a sort of queer smile, and then shrugged her shoulders. I watched as she put her nose up in the air slightly, sniffed, and said, "Whatever, Finn. I bed that whatever you saw was as lame as most of the things you think are so cool."

I sputtered angrily. She turned and walked away! "Oh-oh yeah!" I yelled after her, "It just so happens that I saw y-"

I clapped my hand over my mouth. She turned around with a look of genuine surprise on her face. "My what, Finn? Have you been in my room again?"

She didn't know how close to the truth she really was. I searched around desperately for something to say. It would be all sorts of cool if she wasn't in the room right now. I would totally be telling the others about my little adventure. But they were all staring at me and my attempt at making a fool of myself. Aerrow with his odd half smile he always has when he's amused, Junko with his huge fists clenched like a kid have MY size, and Stork with his eye just twitching like it always does. I blinked. Radarr wasn't there.

Bingo.

"I'm not going to tell you. I don't want to get Radarr in trouble." I said reasonably. I folded my arms, giving every impression that I thought that I was being terribly clever and covering for Radarr.

They didn't have to know I was throwing him under the figurative bus on purpose, after all. Sometimes being known for your immature and childish ways can be a huge plus.

In a flash, Piper was two inches away from my face, manhandling my shirt in both of her fists. "Radarr did what, Finn? What did you talk him into doing this time?"

She was almost howling at me. I craned my next away but couldn't take my eyes off of her for two reasons. One, it's kinda hard to look away from someone who virtually has you by the neck, and two, pissing Piper off is like an art form. I just happened to perfect it.

So I eyed her from my superior height, eyebrows raised. "You look kinda funny when you're pissed."

She shoved me away with a disgusted sound. I almost went stumbling into Junko, but I managed to keep my balance. She had stormed off to go catch Radarr or something when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

Aerrow. "You really shouldn't push her like that, Finn."

"Why not? What makes her so special?"

Again that weird little half smile. "She's just like the rest of us, Finn. Maybe you could answer that question yourself."

I wrinkled my nose at him. "Dude. I have no idea what you're trying to say."

Aerrow almost rolled his eyes at me, but Junko chose that moment to jump in. "Hey Finn! What were you going to tell us about? You sounded excited."

"Oooooh, yeah. That. Well, if I remember the terms of our deal right, I get to choose the next terra. And I choose…" I paused, for dramatic effect, imagining a camera going close-up to my face, "Terra Vapos."

I heard the distinct sound of Stork slapping himself on the forehead and mumbling something that sounded like, "Not again…"

"Ok, Finn. We'll have Piper plot out the course in the morning. I think she's gone to bed now, so you'll have to wait."

"Aww, man, come on. She can do it now! Its not even late yet! And then we can point the Condor in the right direction, and be there in the morning! Not hard!" I game my best version of the puppy dog eyes. "Please? My adoring public waits!"

Aerrow shook his head and walked over to the fridge. "Sorry Finn. You made Piper pretty angry. I'm not getting in her crosshairs."

"I didn't even do anything this time!"

"Doesn't matter. If you think you can get her to do it tonight, by all means, try. But I'm telling you, you should leave it alone."

I barely heard the last part of that, since I had already turned myself around and started stomping back to Piper's room.

I stopped right outside and listened with my ear to the door. It was pretty quiet.

I knocked. "Helloooo? Piper? You in there?"

Nothing.

I knocked again. Still no answer. "You better not be ignoring me!"

She still didn't answer.

I tried the knob. Surprisingly, it opened easily into her room. It was kinda dark and shady in there. I couldn't tell where she was, or even if she was really there. "Piper! Come on, I know you are awake. You cant be asleep already. Even I cant do that."

I stepped further into the room and reached out to turn up the lights. Just as I did, I heard something that made my heart skip a beat in fear.

_Thump!_

_Splatter!_

_Crash!_

"FINN! I'm gonna _MURDER YOU!"_

And for the second time that night, I found myself fleeing Piper's room in desperate fear of my life, but this time, she wasn't chasing me out of her room.

On the contrary, she barreled into me from the direction of the bathroom, tackling me against the hallway walls with a very painful body slam. I sat on the ground in a daze. I didn't even notice when the others came running. My vision was kinda fuzzy when I looked up and saw Piper, her fists waving in an attempt to flatten my poor head into the walls of the Condor. She looked weird…

I couldn't place my finger on it… what…

What was that stuff all over her?

Better yet, why was there stuff all over me?

I raised my hands and looked at them. It was a purply-green goop that slid lazily down my fingers and glopped into nasty clumps on the ground. It could feel the slick grime in my hair and dribbling down my face. Upon closer inspection, it had gotten ground into my clothes and I think a little even got into my mouth, so hard had she flown at me.

If I didn't realize how fast I could run when I was scared, I had no idea how speedy Piper could be when she was mad.

And mad she was. She was shouting all sorts of things that most girls don't really say. I wont repeat them here because, really, it was that bad. And if I thought that gluey mess was all over me, she was downright _covered._ It was like someone just dumped a bucket of the stuff over her. It streaked down her legs, arms, and was piled high in sticky clumps in her hair. It was smeared all over her bathrobe and I could even see the brightly colored stains on the floor where her feet had landed as she had run at me.

"What the-" I started, "What's this junk all over me? Piper, man, why'd you have to-"

"Finn! Its all your fault! ARGH! I am so tired of you and your jokes! You do this all the time! Cant you just let it be for one _single_ day?"

"Now wait just a minute-" I started again, but she charged on.

"Your practical jokes are lame Finn! You do nothing but get in the way! Cant you see that? You're such a child sometimes. If it weren't for you, we might even be a REAL squadron by now, but you keep drawing attention to your immaturity and people think the rest of us would act just like you! How you EVER got to be a good shot is beyond me if all you ever do is pull stupid pranks and goof off all the damn time!" At this, she had finally wrenched herself away from Junko, who was holding her back from hitting me. And she must have gotten a few good licks in. I could feel my left eye starting to swell shut. And my jaw hurt pretty bad. She had a hell of an arm…

"And if you could just grow up, maybe, just maybe, someone would take you seriously for once. You're such a kid Finn. You might think this is all fun and games, but its not." She spat out a glob of that weird goo and turned around. She huffed her way into the bathroom and left the four of us out there, me still a bit stunned from the impact of my head on the wall, Aerrow with his mouth hanging open at her rant, Junko wiping his hands on his shirt with discomfort, and Stork, staring with wide-eyed horror at the whole scene.

"Finn," Aerrow started, but I held up my hand.

"Save it." I stood up, wobbled, then brushed at my clothes. The gunk just sort of smeared but didn't come off or anything. The noise of the shower sputtering to life in the bathroom made me want to get clean as well. With my hand on the wall to steady me, I made my way down to the kitchen and turned on the sink. The water didn't do too much to the stuff until it heated up, but once it did, the goo started to slough off in huge globs. I wet a towel and used it to get the majority of the stuff off of me. I could hear the others out in the hallway. Aerrow and Stork were talking. Stork's voice was panicky and Aerrow's voice urgent but controlled. Junko came into the kitchen, eyeing me with a worried look.

"You ok, Finn?"

"I'm fine. Its not like it's the first time I pissed her off. I like to think I am pretty good at it."

"Finn… I was thinking. Maybe.. maybe you shouldn't be so hard on Piper. She's not like the rest of us you know. She takes stuff a lot more personally. Maybe that prank was putting it too far."

I stopped and stared at Junko. I put the towel down and stared some more.

"I didn't do this, Junko."

"-what?"

I frowned. "I have no idea what this crap is. I know it tastes bad." I spat into the sink to emphasis my point. "But I have never seen anything this gross in my life. And as for pushing someone, Piper didn't have to automatically think that I did this. Sure, I do a lot of the pranks around here, but I didn't do this."

"Well, of course not!" came Stork's quavering voice. I looked over. He was standing at the door, hands gripping one side of the frame. He was holding himself as tight as a bowstring. "Something like this cant be cultivated by the likes of you. I, for one, would like to know how Piper managed to make it fall down. I had it perfectly suspended.. every chance of disaster calculated. It was almost done!"

"Huh?" Junko and I exclaimed in unison.

Aerrow pushed into the kitchen from behind Stork, causing the Merb to jump almost out of his skin. "What Stork is saying," Aerrow began, "is that of course if couldn't be you. He's the one who put it there."

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait. You're telling me that _Stork_ pulled a prank?"

"Of course not, idiot." Stork said in his weird deadpan way. "It was an experiment. And you ruined it."

"How could I ruin it? Piper's the one who decided to wear your weird goo!"

"It doesn't matter!" Aerrow interjected. "What does matter…"

"What?" I asked when Aerrow trailed off.

He sighed. "Finn, that's Merbian mind-moss."

"Okay…so?"

Aerrow looked at Stork. "Care to explain? Just tell him what you told me."

"Fine, fine. He's doomed anyway." Stork fixed me with one of his intense gazes. "Merbian mind-moss is a highly volatile substance. It can cause hallucinations, mood swings, complete changes in character. It causes people to act in ways they otherwise wouldn't. And sometimes you can be susceptible to suggestion. It is known to be an irritating agent to most amphibious creatures and it has weakness to hot water-BUT-heat can cause the symptoms to increase tenfold. It causes at least twelve types of cancer and can permanently change skin and hair color-if you don't catch is soon enough," he said dryly as I frantically started looking for a mirror, pan, or any reflective surface to make sure I didn't have any unsightly green or purple splotches on me or my hair.

"What the hell, Stork! Why do you have this stuff?"

"Isnt it obvious? I'm trying to find a defense against it!"

"But its MERBIAN mind-moss! Doesn't it only grow on Terra Merb?"

"You cant be too cautious. Besides. It can only effect you if you eat it. Even you're not that dumb…..are you?"

OOO

Ok, I kinda like where its going now. I think it might sound a little rushed, but I think I got the idea across. I think I will start on the next part now, since I am still full of ideas. I rather liked how this one ended though.

Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

I sat down next to Stork. It had been a few hours and I had made a promise to myself that I would remain in the forward parts of the ship until Piper was safely in her room, and hopefully asleep. I didn't want to let anyone know, but she actually did kind of get to me with her comments earlier. So I had been out here bothering our illustrious pilot for the past hour and a half. So far, the shower had kept going and no peeps had been made from the bathroom itself. I swear, women can stay in the bathroom longer than most men can watch a ball game.

I fiddled with my hands. Tapped my fingers on my knee, steepled my hands in front of my face, ran my forefinger around in circles on the tabletop. Stork was studiously ignoring me, reading some book or another.

"Soo.." I started out, diffidently,"What'r ya reading?"

Stork lowered the book down far enough to regard me briefly. "A book." He raised it back to its original position.

_Tap, tap, tap. _My hands made a weird rhythm on the table. I could only imagine that it was irritating Stork, because as I watched him try to read his book, his eye twitch grew more and more pronounced. Finally, he shut the book with a snap of his wrist and let it fall to the table. "What do you want, Finn?" he asked, sounding annoyed.

"About that mind-moss of yours…"

"What about it?" he asked pointedly.

"Well… um…do you need to lock me up somewhere or something?"

He gave me an incredulous look. "Why?"

"I-uh, that is, I think I got some in my mouth… just a little." I said, and he opened his mouth to say something but I quickly resumed talking, "But I didn't swallow it! Junko watched me spit it out! It tastes horrible."

"Of course it tastes bad, did you think moss might taste good? I wouldn't be surprised if there were molecules of mind controlling spores moving up into your brain right now. If it was in your mouth long enough for you to actually taste it I wouldn't be surprised if you start hallucinating with visions of Cyclonis in a pink leotard dancing with Aerrow. Or perhaps even the Dark Ace romancing Junko on a midnight stroll through Amazonia. Or even-"

"Ok, Stork, I get it. Leave the smart comments to Piper, ok? She's a little better at making me feel small."

I stood up. I should have known better than try to get an assurance from Stork that I wouldn't be completely delirious this time tomorrow. And I hadn't had that stuff in my mouth for very long, so who knew? It might not even affect me. And Stork had been wrong before. I couldn't think of any one time, but I was sure that he wasn't right all the time. So I crammed that thought firmly in my mind and stood up. I strolled around the bridge, staring out the giant windows at the cloudscape around the Condor. We weren't going anywhere, and we probably wouldn't be for a while. Stork had cautioned us against going anywhere while our navigator might be impaired and even though any one of us could technically do the job, no one wanted to move for some reason.

The clouds were pretty. They looked like a strange golden pink in the waning light. It seemed a little hard to believe the trouble that had happened all through the last couple of hours, but at least this time it wasn't all my fault. It was strange to think that something like this had happened and I hadn't been the one to cause it.

In fact, it was nearly insulting. I felt a little like Stork had one-upped me. And he hadn't even tried to do it!

I ground my teeth together. I started on my mantra that I had going through the back of my mind almost constantly now, since I was doused in the grimy moss.

_Breathe. Just breathe. Its no big deal. It will all fade, even if Stork is right. The moss effect will be gone by morning, if they show up at all. Just breathe._

It didn't do too much for me.

Aerrow peeked in to the bridge every now and then. He always muttered something about doing rounds but I know he was just checking up to make sure I hadn't done anything stupid yet. He took Stork's warning of impending doom a lot more seriously than I had. I saw a flash of red in the reflection on the window, then turned to glare at Aerrow.

No one was there.

I rubbed my forehead. I knew that Junko was cleaning up the mess in the hallway. After taking one look at me after Stork's little speech on the virtues of the damn plant from Merb, he had ducked out of the room with a sponge and a bucket. I would almost like to have thanked him… but that meant going near the bathroom when Piper was still in there using it.

"So…" I drawled, stretching the word out. "Why aren't you… you know, piloting the Condor?"

"If you look outside," Stork pointed out sarcastically, "You'll notice that we aren't going anywhere. Aerrow just said we were staying here for the night. And until you get over the….that is, IF you get over the moss affliction. I'm glad its not contagious."

"What about Piper?"

"What about her?"

"She had the same stuff on her. I saw her before I left. Shouldn't someone go check on her? She's been in the shower for ages. And you said heat was bad."

"Finn, you might be dumb enough to eat random plant life, but I am pretty sure that Piper doesn't make that a habit. Check on her if you want… " he paused, "but remember what happened last time you bothered her against the advice of the rest of us."

"Fine. I may not like her much right now but I do want her to know that it was you who gunked her up with your weird experiments." I shot over my shoulder as I walked to the back of the ship, completely forgetting that I had spent all that time in the bridge to avoid the very person I was about to annoy.

"Enjoy your brain while it lasts," Stork called after me.

Junko had cleaned up the mess already, and I supposed he was in his room. Aerrow was no where to be seen. Steam curled underneath the door of the bathroom.

I knocked.

No answer.

"Come one, don't start this again…" I mumbled. Then, louder, I called, "Piper! You in there still?"

I heard a muffled reply but couldn't understand it. "You're hogging all the hot water! Open up! I need to clean off too you know!"

No dice.

I know I've said this before, but…. She was gonna kill me. I opened the door.

Hazy billows of steam rolled out and dissipated into the hall. The bathroom, just by virtue of being on an airship, was not large but the entire thing was filled up with steam. When I opened the door it seemed to make a good amount of it clear up, so I was able to see inside.

The shower was going at full blast. The shower curtain was a standard white and I could see Piper's silhouette behind it. She still seemed to be scrubbing at her arms and legs and…

Holy hell. I'm still a guy. You cant blame me for enjoying the image of her shadow behind the screen. Piper may be a lot of annoying things, but she sure had some nice…

Uhh..

"Who's there?"

She finally noticed the door being open.

Crap. I couldn't get away. If she chased me out onto the ship like this and anyone saw… hell, it would be my fault again. I was tired of that.

"Its me. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind letting me use the shower, little miss princess. I kinda got that goo all over me too, you know. You aren't the only one who needs-" I had been speaking rather loudly at the time, with the water running and all, but as I said this to her, she reached down and turned the water off. I couldn't stop my eyes from following her movements. I shook my head to clear it. "I need to take a shower too, if your highness wouldn't mind."

Her hand appeared from behind the curtain, groping around for a towel. It found one, then withdrew. After a minute, where I tried not to watch her movements in on the curtain but somehow failed, she thrust the shower curtain aside and stepped out, the towel wound modestly around her. "All yours, Finn." She said politely, standing out of my way.

I narrowed my eyes at her suspiciously. This was not the Piper I knew. I frowned at her, then reached over into the linen closet beside the sink and grabbed a towel. I turned around just in time to see something that almost made my eyes pop out of my head.

Piper was staring at my butt.

I froze, half bent over the sink, holding the towel, and my mind went completely blank. It was so very awkward. After a minute, things kicked back online inside my head.

This is what Stork meant when he said hallucinations. I was imagining Piper doing something that could not EVER actually take place. Piper didn't check people out. She never did that type of stuff. She was just Piper.

Nope, it was all me. I was imagining something that was on par with the idea of Stork kissing Cyclonis. I was going weirdo on everyone. That stuff I tasted must have really gotten to me this time. Man, I knew it. A prank I didn't even pull managed to backfire on me. It wasn't fair.

At least I deserved it when things I pull go wrong. This was all Stork's fault.

I was fully convinced that it was all my imagination, so I just ignored it. That's the easiest thing to do when you don't understand things. Just ignore it all. So I tossed the towel down on the toilet seat. "D'ya mind?" I asked as I pulled my shirt over my head. I looked up to see Piper's face reflected behind me in the mirror. Her eyes weren't on mine in the reflection.. they were traveling up my back.

I turned around and pushed her none too gently out into the hallway. "Damn, Piper, its my turn for the shower. Go to bed or something! Geez."

I slammed the door shut and shook my head. This was worse than the gorge madness. At least when I had that, I wasn't aware of my hallucinations.

That's what it had to be. It was waaay to weird for it to be anything else.

I turned on the water and jumped in after disrobing the rest of the way. It was nice and warm.

For about two minutes.

I think my shriek of surprise caught everyone on the ship. "Dammit! See why women should wait til after the guys to shower? NO HOT WATER!"

In retrospect, maybe a cold shower was a good idea for me. Piper, for all she was a teammate, was a girl too. And this would be the second time today I had seen her close to naked.

And I'm sorry. I'm a guy. And hormones…

Well, you get the picture.

Needless to say, my cold shower didn't last long. I cleaned up as fast as I could and then jumped back out. I wrapped the towel around my waist and opened up the door.

I peered outside. There was no one in sight. I sprinted down the hallway to my room and closed the door before jumping into some fresh boxers and pajama bottoms.

What? I like my PJs. They have the Nimrods logo all over them.

OOO

Well, this chapter is more like a weird intermission chapter than much else. I just felt inspired to continue writing after finishing the last one, and I felt the last one stopping where it did was just great.

This one was more to give you an idea of what is going on with the mind-moss angle. I have a couple of different options at this point of where it could go, and I am having fun trying to jump inside Finn's head to see what he would think in some of these situations. I get the strangest feeling sometimes that Finn is one of the deeper characters on the show, and I am trying to emulate that.

Thank you to those who have reviewed so far. I am happy to have brought something worth reading to the eyes of those who are interested. Now, if only I could inject this sort of energy to my own original novel, it would all be golden.

As always, thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

It was still dark when I woke up. My stomach rumbled like an angry sky shark. I fumbled around in the darkness for my alarm clock. I never really use it, so I had to shove a lot of stuff around before I found it, and fully woke myself up in the process. About… thee fifteen in the morning?

And here I was thinking things couldn't get any worse. I was awake way too early and for some reason, I felt all giddy and tingly. I bet it was that stupid Merbian crap of Stork's. As I pulled myself out of bed due to the insistence of my gurgling belly, I wondered briefly if Stork was going to find a cure for this, or if I would wait it out, or if it was really going to impact my life too much. It's a bit like common knowledge around here that most people don't think I live in reality anyway. If that was really the case, would it change so much?

And going along that line, isn't change a natural effect of the human condition? I mean, not all change is bad. Maybe forced change could be good. It limits the freedom of personal choice, but historically, all revolution in mankind was forced change. Even Cyclonia could be lumped into that category, so in other words-

I shook my head and put a hand to my temple, wincing when I bumped against the shiner that Piper had given me with her wild right hook. What was going on with my brain? "Whoa… way too much thinking this early in the morning."

I stumbled to the door. Outside, the lights were turned down low like they normally are during the nighttime hours. I passed by Junko's room and heard his deep, regular snoring coming from within. He had the door cracked open slightly to allow the light in the hallway to shine inside. I shook my head and smiled to myself. It was always a struggle, reconciling Junko's obvious physical prowess with some of the childlike ways he acted.

I stopped dead in the hallway for a moment. It was like my thoughts weren't even my own. "Stupid moss," I grumbled.

Passing Aerrow's room, I could hear his snoring too, but not near as loud as Junko's. Stork's room was next and just like I expected, I could hear no noise in passing.

I gulped and took a deep breath as I approached the hallway leading by Piper's room. I took special care, walking only on the balls of my feet, making as little noise as I could. It was ridiculous, I know, but I really didn't want to deal with Piper right now. I knew I wouldn't wake her up at this time of night, but between what she said to me yesterday and the fact that I was somehow at fault for things I didn't even put into motion… lets just say that I could go a few hours without seeing her judgmental face and hearing it all over again. Not that it ever really affected me. I don't care what she thinks. Or anyone else, for that matter.

I made it successfully back to the fore of the ship. I rummaged around the fridge and cabinets until I cobbled together something that looked edible then took it out to the main room to eat. When I got there, I was surprised to see Stork leaning on the controls. "Dude… you ever sleep?"

I could have laughed my head off at the way he jumped when I spoke. He collected himself, as much as he ever does. "I spend as much time asleep as you do acting like an adult," he replied, "In other words… not so much."

I frowned. "What, just because Piper hasn't come at me in the past few hours, you feel the need to take up the slack? Give me a break, Stork."

I turned to my sandwich and started tearing into it with all the ferocity of a crazed Wallop. I was _hungry._

"So," I said in between bites, "Are you really here, or am I hallucinating again?"

He looked at me. I saw it out of the corner of my eye. He shook his head and stared off into the undulating clouds. The Condor was still stationary in the sky.

"Is there a reason I am so hungry, Stork?"

"Yeah. You're a bottomless pit."

"Not that, and you know it. This moss thing. Does it have any other side effects?"

"Well, if my experiment hadn't gone down the drain-literally, mind you-I might have an answer for that, wouldn't I?"

"For crying out loud, how many times do I have to say it wasn't my fault? Why did you have it in the bathroom anyway?"

"No other place on the ship is damp enough to grow moss!"

"But-" I stopped and shook my head. "This is getting me no-where. Do you have any idea how long this stuff effects humans?"

"Humans… no. But Merbs… sometimes they never come out of it."

"For someone who knows a lot about everything bad, you sure aren't helping me much."

Stork shrugged and turned back towards the window. I took the time to stare at the clouds too but somehow, the reflections of the interior of the ship in the glass diverted my attention. Seeing the place you live in at night is like being in a whole different universe. I never noticed the way the pattern of the floor looked when reflected back in the windows. I never stopped to look at the rugged but somehow shiny control displays that Stork must have up kept meticulously in whatever leisure time he gave himself. That made me wonder… "Hey Stork?"

An irritated sigh, then." What?"

"What do you do in you off time?"

He shook his head and didn't even look back at me. I could see him roll his eyes in the glass of the window. "Well, yesterday evening you ate part of it. Answer your question?"

I squirmed uncomfortably. It wasn't even my fault and I felt guilty!

We lapsed back into silence. I took a few more bites of my sandwich.

It might have only been a few minutes when I saw Stork's ears perk up slightly and he turned his face to the main door near the kitchen. Apparently he was paying more attention to the noises in the ship after I had scared him. Presently, even I could hear footsteps approaching.

Piper walked in, carrying a plate of cold cuts and cheese. She stopped in surprised at Stork's presence, then slid down onto the bench, almost on top of me.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, "Look where you're going!"

She bolted back up right and stared at me. "Sorry…"

I shook my head and went back to my food, studiously ignoring her. She walked to the other side of the table and sat down. Then she started eating. I could see out of the corner of my eye the mountain of food she had and how it steadily started to disappear. That girl could really pack it away!

I was doing a very good job at pretending she didn't exist-hey, my feelings still hurt even when I don't admit it-when she belched. Not a burp. Not a little sound under her breath, but a full out ripple in the space-time continuum. I couldn't help myself. I snickered like the big kid everyone accused me of being. I glanced at her face and laughed. She looked mortified, just like she always does when she has a breach of her precious etiquette. Then suddenly, she smiled.

I didn't like that smile much. She eyed me. I'm not talking staring, glaring, or glowering. She sized me up as though I were a brand new skimmer that she was going to buy.

Now, I aint the most modest person around. I was out here wearing nothing but my PJs. I didn't even have any shoes or slippers on. But the way she looked at me made me wonder if it wouldn't have been smarter to have taken the time to throw on a shirt or something. I felt a warm trickle of blush begin around my chest and expand outward until it covered my face, torso, and arms, at least. She didn't seem to notice, and Stork was back to staring out the window, ignoring both of us. She put down the food she still held in her hands, then dusted them off very deliberately.

Then she stood up, placed her hands, palms flat, on the table, and leaned forward. Since I was sitting, she actually towered over me. Being put so strangely into such a position, I did the only thing I could do. I leaned backwards.

Piper smirked. "So…" she started, her gaze dropping down to my naval. She slowly trailed her eyes back up to my face as she spoke, "You think you can do better?"

"Uhh..uh..uh…." Crap. There went my thought processes again.

I looked desperately to where Stork had been standing moments ago. He was still there, but it looked like he was dozing. A part of my mind that was detached from the events at the table speculated that maybe that was how he went so long without sleep. In any case, there would be no help from that quarter.

"Uhh.." She looked me up and down again. I started to edge out of my seat. "Uhh…"

"Well?"

"Uhhh…I'm-tired-gotta-go-to-bed-goodnight-bye!"

I made it back to my room, chased by the soft sound of a giggle from Piper. I locked my door and leaned up against it. "I have got to stop imagining things. I think there's more to this mind stuff than I gave it credit for." If its this bad in the middle of the night, what was going to happen in the morning?

I trudged slowly to my bed and lay back down, but it was at least two hours before I fell asleep again.

The next time I opened my eyes, I screamed in horror. Staring right back down at me was-wait a minute.

I could have sworn that some indescribable evil was in my room not too seconds before. But now it was gone. I heard footsteps hurrying down the hallway followed by a bellow from Junko. "You ok Finn!"

"Ah-" I croaked. My voice was all slow with sleep. I cleared my throat and tried again just as Junko realized my door was locked. I heard the telltale sound of his knuckle busters coming online. I hurried to talk to him before my door became nonexistent. "I'm fine! Its ok."

I dragged myself over and opened it. Junko's eyes widened at my appearace. "Wow, Finn. You look horrible."

"Thanks," I said dryly. "I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Oh yeah. Stork told me that that mossy stuff sometimes makes you really hungry and sometimes it wont let you sleep. Seen any weird things lately? I mean, I can only imagine what your mind will come up with to hallucinate about. Like maybe shooting the Dark Ace down, or fighting Ravess and actually winning. Not that you're a bad shot but…" Junko trailed off, looking troubled. "You know, maybe we shouldn't let you have your crossbow until you're better. Or the skimmer. Who knows what would happen if you went cuckoo out there?"

"Thanks Junko. I feel so much better now." I grumbled as we made our way to join the others. I didn't want to tell him that most of my hallucinations focused around Piper hitting on me. Or that my brain suddenly decided to go into philosophizing overload every now and then.

Hey, thinking about anything beyond when the next meal is and shooting stuff is way too philosophical for me.

"Hey, Finn," Aerrow waved as Junko and I arrived. "Stork and I talked about it, and we're going to rest here for another couple of nights before we go to Vapos. We'll still go, but we need to make sure that this mind moss business is over with. The last thing we need is for you to go haring off on some imaginary chase or something, or maybe even hurting yourself. So we'll be keeping you here on the Condor until Stork is sure you're okay."

"Great," I said without enthusiasm. "I'll be here forever. Do I at least get to go on patrol with you guys this morning? I am feeling cooped up in here."

Aerrow shared a glance with Stork and Junko, before looking back at me with a twinge of regret. "Sorry Finn. You'll have to stay back here with Piper and Stork. We're not going to be able to watch you and make sure you don't start seeing things out on the clouds."

I got that chill down my back again. He was leaving me here with Piper? I crossed my arms and scowled at Stork. "Fine. FINE. I'll just have to sit here on the bridge and keep Stork company the whole time. We'll be best buddies, wont we, Stork?"

"I hate my life…" the green pilot muttered over the steering column. Aerrow frowned at me.

"Can I talk to you real quick, Finn?"

"Sure. You're making all the other decisions around here."

I followed him out to the hangar. We were the only two in there. "What's wrong, Finn? In the past half day, you've gotten pretty moody. Junko's kinda worried about you. I know Stork's been heckling you, but you normally don't let him get to you so bad. So what is up?"

I furrowed my brow, then opened my mouth to talk. "Its-wait. No. Nevermind." I changed my mind.

"Come on, Finn. You're our best shot and we really need you up there. But even if it weren't for the mind moss, I wouldn't take you out with us, not like this. I need to know what's wrong. Even if I cant fix it, I have to know what it is that is bothering you so much."

"Nothing. Its nothing. I am just disappointed that we have to wait to go to Terra Vapos, okay?"

He nodded. "Okay. But that shouldn't be affecting you this bad, should it? Its just another Terra."

I froze. I could feel this slow, angry feeling rising up inside me. I turned away from him quite deliberately. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

Try him. Right.

"Fine. You want to know why I want to go to Vapos so bad? Really? Cause you are not going to like my answer," I said heatedly. "I want to go there because there, I made a difference. Over there, I'm not just some kid with good hand-eye coordination. I'm not some goof off that no one takes seriously. The look at me and see someone worth listening to over in Vapos.

'Here? Do you even KNOW how it feels to be the 'kid' of the group? Do you even get what its like to be known for how goofy you are, even when your intelligence is on par with everyone else? I'm not an idiot, Aerrow, even though Stork and Piper think so. Junko is my best friend here and he STILL looks at me like I'm someone who needs to be watched to make sure I don't do something stupid. Piper thinks-well, hell, you were there when she told me what she thinks. Stork blames me for stuff like this, stuff that I didn't even do! One question as to my competence and you are all sorts of ready to write me off. I don't feel much difference between now and how I was a day ago before all this crap happened!

'You really want to know why I want to go to Terra Vapos? It's not because I crave constant praise or feasting or even being elevated above everyone else. In Vapos, I mean something. I have value. I want to go there because those people like me for who I am, without any conditions. They take what I say and they don't weigh it against any preconceived notions of how I might mess things up.

'I want to go to Vapos, just for a little while, because there, they don't judge me."

I glared at him for one more moment before turning around and storming dramatically back to my room. I pushed by Piper as she emerged from her room. "Hey, Finn!" She called.

"Save it." I growled as I slammed into my room.

I sat down to fiddle with my radio. If I couldn't go patrolling with the others I needed something to do, and hanging out with Stork was something I wasn't really looking forward to doing. Since I wasn't going to be doing anything worth getting into my normal uniform over, I just dressed down into my sweats and a t-shirt. I tried to get the game in on the radio. I wasn't having much luck, and I had been at it for about an hour when a soft knock sounded at my door.

"Go away."

Instead of leaving, however, the door opened. It was Piper.

Great. I didn't need another episode. I stared up at her plaintively. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to see if you were okay Finn. You looked upset."

"I'm still here. I'm whole. Not hurt. Now can you leave me alone? I'm trying to sleep."

"No you aren't. You're playing with your radio. At your desk. Across from your bed."

I thumped the radio down on the desk. I looked at her. Then very deliberately walked over to my bed and laid down on it, my back to her. "There. Now can you leave?"

I didn't hear her move, but soon I felt a hand on my shoulder. I twitched, but the hand didn't move.

She squeezed my shoulder awkwardly. "Finn.. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for all those things I said to you last night. You didn't really deserve that. And Stork told me about the mind moss thing… I know its not your fault."

She paused. After waiting a moment, she sighed. "I know you're probably mad at me but I cant help myself sometimes. I just jump to conclusions. And I'm sorry you have to be stuck on the Condor like this. And I'm sorry we cant go to Terra Vapos yet like Aerrow promised." As she was talking, her hand had begun to massage my shoulder.

I should have been terribly uncomfortable, but…

It felt… surprisingly good.

"If it makes you feel any better, one of the reasons we aren't going anywhere is because Aerrow doesn't want me making any navigational decisions yet either. Apparently, taking a hot shower after being doused in Stork's goo was a bad choice on my part. Aerrow is afraid I'll do something stupid."

"Yeah, well, no one is continually jumping you for having gotten that crap in your mouth."

She was silent again. "Stork told me some more about that stuff but… I dunno. Cant remember it all. Things are kinda fuzzy, you know? Maybe you should ask him about it. I know whatever he told me was interesting at the time, but beyond that…" she trailed off.

I rolled over to look at her. "Its not like Stork likes to explain things to me…"

As I had turned her hand had simply slid over my shoulder to rest where my next met my chest. She didn't seem to be listening to me anymore. She was staring at my mouth as I talked.

She was really close. I froze again. My mind worked at a furious pace, though. She trailed her fingertips past my collarbone and I grabbed her hand.

She looked at me, eyes heavy-lidded, in surprise. I forced down a lump of… what was it? Fear? Excitement? And slowly pushed her back. As I did so, I sat up.

"Piper, I think you should go now."

"Huh?" Her eyes raised to my own and I realized that her face was only a few inches away from mine.

"If you stay here.. you might do something you will regret when those mind effects wear off. I may not like you all the time but I don't want you to feel awkward whenever this blows over."

I pushed her gently away and pointed out towards the door. "Trust me. You'll thank me later."

She shook her head as though it felt fuzzy, then got up and walked out, looking back at me once just as she left.

I laid back down. I realized that my heart was pounding in my chest and I had started breathing a little heavier.

I had done the right thing. If she had done something even so innocent as tried to kiss me-and I am sure she was about to do just that-then she would have been mortified whenever she saw me again afterward.

I did the right thing. But that little voice in the back of my head asked me, _What if you had just let her do it?_

OOO

Ok, that came iut with a little more angst than I had in mind, but I still liked it. I am sorry for any errors, but I am on a roll and churning out chapters with abandon. If you see any glaring or annoying problems, let me know and I'll fix them ASAP, but this is becoming too much fun.

Again, thank you for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

Well, I reasoned to myself, I cant stay in my room all day, much as I would like to do so.

I had sat around my room for about another hour and a half, but when I wasn't doing something interesting in there, or when I wasn't dodging cleaning duties, I didn't exactly enjoy just hanging out in my room all alone. So soon enough, my boredom drove me out to the main deck.

Piper was gone. In her room with the crystals like normal, I guessed. I was a little glad, even though there was a niggling feeling of disappointment that I brushed away almost as quickly as it appeared. The person who I really did want to talk to was standing right there, in his normal spot by the controls. I tried to keep my voice light hearted as I walked up to him.

"Stork! Buddy! Hey, I have a question for you."

"No, Finn, we aren't going to Terra Vapos until you and Piper aren't…. infected… anymore."

"That's not what I wanted to ask you, man. Piper mentioned something about the moss that you told her, but she couldn't remember what it was. So I figured I would come ask you."

Stork fixed me with his one eye that could see from behind his hair. "What about it?"

"I dunno. She couldn't remember. But it she said it seemed pretty important. Care to tell me some more about the effects?"

Stork sighed. "If I do, will you go away?"

"If you do, I promise not to bug you again for… twenty minutes."

"A week."

"Three hours."

"Four days."

"Until the moss wears off."

"Deal. No one knows how long you might be under its effects."

"Good. Now spill."

Stork left the controls-they weren't doing anything in any case, since the ship wasn't moving-and sat at the table across from me. He held out a hand with one finger in the air. "First off," he said, "As far as the effects on _Merbs_ go, there are several types of mental effects. Hallucinations-you might see things that you know could never happen. Like… Master Cyclonis holding hands with Aerrow. That type of hallucination."

"Oh, so no pink air sharks appearing through the walls?"

"That's a valid scientific theory and you know it!" He almost shouted at me, shaking a fist. He calmed down after a minute. "You could also see things that might not be so far off from the truth. Seeing someone when they aren't really there, hearing things that might possibly be making a noise, but aren't really doing so.

'There's the power of suggestion. Depending on how much moss you had, there is the possibility of being able to control you by making you think you want to do something. The further out of your realm of operation, the harder it would be to make you do it. For example, I might be able to tell you to go to the kitchen and get yourself a sandwich because you're hungry," He looked smug when my stomach rumbled embarrassingly loud at the very thought of food. I scowled at him. "But suppose I told you to go give Piper a giant kiss. That is most definitely out of your realm of possibilities, so you would be far more inclined to do the former."

I felt myself flush at the comment and almost said something to deny any thought I might ever have had about kissing Piper, but he continued on and I just let it pass.

"The other mental side effect is… how should I put this… loss of inhibition. That means you might do things you want to do, but otherwise wouldn't even attempt due to self restraint." He raised a dour eyebrow. "Not that it has ever stopped you before, Finn."

"So…" I drew out, slowly, "Someone might do something that they wanted to always do, but never did because they didn't think it was acceptable?"

"Pretty much. And there's also the complete change in character. That's a bit deceptive. It's not really a complete change of character. It's a permanent loss, or permanent partial loss, of inhibition. Merbs go through that bit and seldom regain their original selves. It's the only reason, some speculate, that Terra Merb's inhabitants have survived. Their inner instinct overcame the paranoia… allowing them to lead the other Merbs from danger."

"Okay… so, why is this stuff such a danger to you guys then? You'd think you would want the stuff. Bottle and sell it, even."

He looked at me with something similar to horror on his face. "The only reason most Merbs survive is because of the instinct to run away! Are you completely crazy? I knew you ingested some of that moss but I didn't know it affected your brain so badly yet!"

He pulled out a notebook. I wondered idly where he had pulled it out from, since it almost appeared out of nowhere, and shook my head. He was busy writing, comparing, muttering, and shaking his head in a quick, jerky manner. Once or twice I heard him mutter something about findings on 'humans' and such, but by virtue of being easily distracted, I soon grew bored again and stood up. "Is that all you can tell me?"

"Yeah. But Finn. A word of warning."

"What's that?"

"Don't piss Piper off too bad while this is going on. She might have bruised you up pretty bad after the initial exposure… but imagine what she might do now after several hours of wallowing in the effects of the stuff."

I briefly allowed myself to remember the impromptu shoulder massage before I shook my head. My cheeks started to warm. "I'll keep that in mind. By the way," I tossed out casually, "Why does the moss have worse effects in the heat?"

"Well, the heat causes it to take effect faster and last longer. I would explain more than that… but I don't want to overload your mind. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a few Finn-free years to enjoy." He stood and moved away.

And left me on my own, contemplating his words.

And since I had promised I would leave him alone after our chat, I had no one else on the ship to really interact with. I wondered when Junko and Aerrow might make it back, but I knew from personal experience that patrols could be time consuming. Asking when they would come back would be like asking when the moss effects would fade. There was no way of knowing. The only person I could ask, I knew, was Piper, but I wasn't sure I wanted to test those waters just yet. From what Stork had said, the mind moss would only be able to make a person do things that were in their nature to do in the first place. That opened up a whole new can of worms, so to speak. That meant that even if she would horrified by her behavior in my room earlier that day, on some minuscule level, she must have wanted to do that.

That was so weird.

And the real question is… why did I stop her from doing anything? I mean, I could have sworn I heard that tiny voice in the back of my head asking, _why not?_

My brain hurt.

"This is too much thinking for one day," I told myself firmly. For all I knew, the mind moss had already left my system. It wasn't like I had taken in very much at all in any case. But just to be safe, I decided to go take some of my bored frustration out on my skimmer in the hangar. I know I had been forbidden to fly it, but I could do some maintenance on it at least. It sure beat sitting out here watching Stork ignore me. With that thought in mind, I walked through the corridors to the hangar. Piper's room was open as I passed, and I assured myself that she was hip-deep in some crystal thingamawhatzit, and I went on by without her noticing me.

It didn't take me long to engross myself in what I was doing. That is, rather than working on my ride like I intended, I was kicked back with my headphones on. My feet were resting on a took box, my back up against the front tire of my skimmer, and I was keeping time with my bobbing head while I played air guitar with my eyes shut. I don't think I was singing along with the music, so I was actually being quiet for once.

So you can imagine my surprised when the song ended, and I opened my eyes to see Piper standing in front of me with an amused smile playing around her lips.

I jumped when I saw her. The toolbox rattled away and my skimmer's wheel turned under my back, which pitched me off to the side into a heap. I flailed around for a minute before I managed to pick myself up off the floor and tore my headphones off of my head. "What's the big idea, Piper? Trying to kill me?"

"No. I was getting ready to get some lunch and I was going to see if either you or Stork were hungry. Stork said no because he thinks I still might have some of that moss all over me… He's still upset that I took that hot shower afterwards, I think. I thought I would try a peace offering to get you out of your glum mood. Its partially my fault you got upset, anyway."

I eyed her suspiciously. She just smiled back at me, looking nothing like she had this morning in my room. She seemed to be in complete control of herself. I shrugged as though I didn't care either way. "If you want to cook, it couldn't be any worse than Junko's food." I said by way of agreement.

"Great. My only condition is that you keep my company while I make lunch. I've been doing crystal stuff all morning. I need some human contact."

I shrugged again. Then I walked out of the hangar any back towards the kitchen. As I passed, I swear she looked me up and down but when I paused to say something, I decided I must have been mistaken.

"Anything wrong?" She asked when I stopped.

"Uh.. " I said, intelligently," No, I was just making sure I didn't forget anything out here."

In the kitchen, I leaned diffidently against one of the counters. And truthfully, I was looking forward to eating something Piper had made. Between the three humans on our crew, or anyone, for that matter, Piper was clearly the superior cook. I watched as she bustled about the kitchen and pulled out pots, pans, plate, ingredients, etc. I didn't know exactly what she was making, but I knew it was smelling good before she even cooked it. I just made sure that I was far enough away from her pretty much at all times so that I wouldn't touch her and possibly trigger another hallucination like the ones I had been having, I had just about decided that the whole episode in my room earlier where I thought she was going to kiss me was my own imagination. I mean, it had to have been, right? My little moss induced dreams could easily be explained away by hormones. I've mentioned that many times already. I'm a guy. Guys have problems like that every now and then. And for me, imagining that some attractive girl, say, Piper, wants to touch me, is a pretty good description of a drug induced hallucination, right?

Its not like she would actually have some desire to do that. Not the Piper I know. I usually manage to make her so angry at me that she would go stomping off to her room rather than look at me. In fact, the only weird things she had been doing lately would be the level of politeness she was showing. Both the shower last night and the way she tried to apologize this morning. And now she was making me food. I think Aerrow must have just told her what I said about Vapos and she probably felt guilty about blaming me for the goo incident, and she decided to be nice about it.

For all I knew, Piper wasn't being affected by the moss at all. I mean, she always did have a better head on her shoulders than the rest of us, right?

As I was thinking, I was following her around the room with my eyes, but not really paying attention to her movements. So when she started talking to me, and I found myself looking straight down at her as she chopped some vegetables on the table beside me, I was once again surprised.

"So," she started, making me jump. Again. "You feeling any better?"

"A little." I replied warily and started to move a bit away. She put down the knife and grabbed my wrist before I got too far.

"Don't run off, Finn. I told you the terms of my making you lunch."

"I was just giving you some room."

"Yeah, well," she smiled at me quickly before going back to the vegetables. "Save it, okay?"

I frowned, confused, but my lunch was on the line. I settled back against the counter again. "Why are you being so nice anyway?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I feel a little bad about what I said to you yesterday too."

"You don't have to do anything. I'm used to it."

She sighed and pushed the chopped veggies off to the side. She tossed the knife into the sink. When she turned back around to me, she had a very odd look in her eye. She dusted her hands off on her legs and came to stand directly in front of me.

I raised my eyebrows. "Uh, Piper? What are you doing?"

"Something I have wanted to do for a while now…" She reached up and I felt her fingertips lightly touch the sides of my face. I could feel my heart pounding from the proximity, but she looked calm as ever as she pushed her fingers through the hair at my temples and up into the longer hair on top of my head. I stood frozen, as I had been finding myself doing a lot lately, just staring down at her in true consternation.

This day was just getting way too weird. Here I was, standing in the kitchen on the Condor, staring down at Piper as she ran her fingers through my hair. I noticed her smile, lips partially parted. Her eyes were on her hands, which by this point were above my eye level, and I just stood there dumbfounded, gripping the edge of the counter until my knuckles were white.

All I could do was stare down at her lips as they curved into a graceful smile of… not quite delight. Not quite satisfaction. I don't know what the emotion was behind the smile, but I knew it was there.

"Piper…"

She continued moving her hands through my hair. Just like my shoulder earlier… it should have made me uncomfortable, and on some level, it did. But it just felt really, really _good._

"Piper…"

"What?" She was still staring at my hair. "I always wondered if it felt this soft…" she murmured.

"Piper…"

"Hmm?"

"You have to stop."

"Why?"

"Because," I swallowed hard. I was still staring at her mouth, "The mind moss is making you do things you normally wouldn't do. And because I'm your friend…"

A groan almost erupted out of my throat, but I managed to contain it. The feeling of fingers massaging my scalp felt so _good._

"Because I'm your friend, I cant let you do something you'll regret."

She slowly brought her fingers down, lowering her eyes at the same time. I must have had some strange expression on my face-and who wouldn't, in my shoes?-because she stopped momentarily. Her hands still cradled the sides of my head. She didn't say anything. She didn't even respond to my words. Instead, she tightened her grip ever so slightly, cupping my jaw and drawing my face closer to hers.

It was all I could do to reach up and grip her shoulders. It was a futile attempt to get her to stop what she was doing, because all I managed to do once I had her shoulders in my grasp was to pull her closer, almost against my will.

We were mere millimeters away when I heard a voice down the hallway.

"Hey! Aerrow, smells like Piper's cooking!"

Quick as one of my arrows, I had pushed Piper away and turned to the refrigerator, opening the door and sticking almost my entire torso inside. Piper, lucky person she is, managed to hide most of her blush due to the dark hue of her skin. Just as Junko came rushing in, I called out, "You said you needed milk Piper? Right?"

I winced when I heard my voice cracking. She cleared her throat and replied that no, she was all done with the cold ingredients. I rubbed my face and snagged a dish towel on my way up from looking in the fridge. I held it close to my face and feigned a few sneezes. I hurried out of the room and made it to the bathroom with little comment from the others. Once inside there, I looked at myself in the mirror.

I didn't know my face could get that red. I started splashing cold water into my face and hair, when Stork's words came back to me full force.

"_The other mental side effect is… how should I put this… loss of inhibition. That means you might do things you want to do, but otherwise wouldn't even attempt due to self restraint."_

"Whoa," I said to my reflection, "Was that Piper's lack of inhibition…. Or mine?"

OOO

Ok, this story has officially thrown me through a loop. I started this chapter with a specific end in mind, and instead, this is what came out. I cant help but think I may be getting a little repetitive and less funny, but its become more of an expedition into Finn's mind than originally planned.

As always, thank you for reading this far. I am enjoying this very much. I wonder if I will ever finish it, or just keep writing it in perpetuity.

Oh, and I know I normally answer each review separately, but I must say, my kids have worn me down all day, so here's props to MinakoJupiter, Madame Lady, horribly random, and Golden Snowflake. You guys are the ones who, with your reviews of chapter four, inspired me to write this chapter today as well.

I may well get another one out before the night is over, too. Wish me luck.


	6. Chapter 6

_Crinkle, crinkle, crinkle._

_Thwack._

_Rustle._

_Sigh._

I raised my head from my pillow and narrowed my eyes at the wastebasket. Yup. I'd made it again. My right hand fumbled on the notebook next to me, ripping off another paper. It crinkled as I balled it up in my fist and then tossed it up against the wall. The light thwack rewarded me, followed by the rustle as it settled down with all the other balls of paper that already resided in the basket.

It was probably the hundredth one I had sunk within the past… however long I had been in my room. After the guys had gotten back, I just escaped to my room. Things were getting way too weird for me. I needed a break. My room seemed like the best place for privacy and not having to think about weird things that had been happening.

But, like anything in the last twenty four hours, what I intended was not going to actually happen. Just as I was sitting there, staring at the ceiling and trying to identify shapes in the uneven surface, a knock came at my door.

"Hey, Finn! You in there?"

Junko. I rubbed my hand over my face. "No."

A pause, then, "What's up Finn? You've been kinda moody all day."

"I'm tired."

"Finn… its barely afternoon. You can't be tired."

I didn't answer. Soon enough, though, he started talking again. "Hey, Piper finished with lunch. I managed to save some for you if you were hungry. She didn't want me to, said something about a deal you made with her, but I got it for you anyway. You might want to get to it before Stork decides its safe to eat."

"You're not gonna leave me alone, are you?"

"Probably not. And I'm getting tired of talking to a door."

I sat up. "Fine, fine." I opened the door and saw Junko, arms crossed, looking kinda like a disapproving father.

I scratched my head. "What? I can't have a minute alone today?"

I tried to fix him with an annoyed stare, but at that moment, my stomach decided to gurgle desperately. My mouth twitched, and in a moment, I snickered. "Race ya to the kitchen!"

"Now, that's the Finn I know!" Junko's heavy steps thundered behind me as I streaked off towards the food. I side-stepped Piper without even realizing it and jumped over Aerrow as he was kneeling down talking to Radar. Nimble as I was, I still had Junko barreling down the hallway behind me, so the resulting howls of surprise that followed his passage more than improved my mood. As I got into the kitchen, I saw Stork pulling my reserve plate out of the fridge. I went flying past him, snagging the plate from his hands in the same motion, then backpedaling to avoid hitting the opposite wall. I turned around just in time to see Junko swerve into the room after me.

"Oh, crud," I managed to get out before he collided with Stork and they both ended up smashing back into me. We all piled up in a confused heap.

I blinked, dazed, and the world seemed to go in slow motion as the plate of… what was it anyway, vegetable salad? Well, anyway, it came falling back towards us to land perfectly upside down on Stork's head.

All was silence for about ten seconds. Then Junko guffawed, and I cracked up. Stork was frozen in fear before he started babbling. "I'm going to contract the mind moss! Its all over for me! Piper, why have you delivered my doom in the form of tasty vegetables?!"

And so on and so forth. I waited until he started to repeat himself before plucking the plate off of his head. "Dude. You were getting ready to eat it anyway."

"I was going to make sure it didn't have any contaminants. For all we know, Aerrow and Junko could be infected too! Soon, we'll all be crawling around the ship, brought low by mind moss! Only because of your stomach and Piper's cooking!"

"I am sooooo telling Piper you said that," I laughed.

"Telling me who said what?"

I looked up to see Aerrow and Piper, looking a bit roughed up on account of Junko bull rushing them over, standing at the door. They were regarding our situation with different expressions. Aerrow was trying his best to look stern and tight lipped, but every now and then the set of his mouth would falter and try to curl up in a smile before he got it under control again. Piper was looking about in dismay at the remains of lunch, scattered all over the floor.

And the counters.

The ceiling.

The three of us on the floor.

I reached over and snagged a slice of cucumber off of my shoulder. Taking a bite, I said, "Stork thinks we're going to die because of your cooking."

Junko giggled. Piper looked shocked. Stork turned reddish… its hard to place a name to the color that overtakes Stork's skin when he blushes. I chewed thoughtfully, pretending not to notice Piper getting ready to blow like a steaming kettle on the stove. "I dunno. Stork may be right." I announced as I swallowed, "You never know what could happen when weird chemicals are introduced to your body."

I raised one eyebrow (the one that wasn't accompanying my black eye she gave me last night) at Piper. She at least had the decency to blush and look away. Score one for Finn!

"So…now that I had my dose of Piper's deadly poison, I'm out. If you all don't mind, I'm going to spend the last few minutes of my life doing something stupid. I think I'll go play with Junko's knuckle busters in Piper's lab. If we're all gonna die, she doesn't need those dumb crystals anyway."

I started to stroll past all the others, who were staring at me in shock, when all of a sudden the unwounded side of my face exploded into pain. I twirled halfway around before I thought to raise my fists to retaliate. Before I could throw a swing, Aerrow was in my way, holding onto my wrist. Piper was on the other side of Aerrow, all anger and snarls. From the way she held her fist, loose and flexing her knuckles, I realized it was she who hit me.

Again.

"Man," I said around the swelling of my jaw, "I'm getting tired of this."

Aerrow looked at me with disapproval, saying much in his lack of words. Stork was making his typical babbling commentary. I think he was talking about the possibilities of blood borne disease from my bloodied face getting into the life support systems of the ship. I wrenched my arm away from Aerrow.

"Geez, Piper. Learn to take a joke already."

"As soon as you grow up, Finn."

Normally, this would be the point where I would huff off to my room. I'd been hiding there a lot lately, and suddenly, I didn't really feel like running away again today. So I squared my shoulders, pushed Aerrow out of the way, and loomed over Piper. "It's a stupid joke. If you didn't take yourself so seriously, maybe you'd be able to loosen up and enjoy yourself for once!"

"How can I enjoy myself when all you do is constantly devalue me? Huh?"

"Where do you get that? I have never once been serious when I say stuff like that! You should know, you jumped my case about it yesterday!"

Piper shoved me, her hands planted firmly on my shoulders. Then she let her arms fly out to the side. "Well, maybe I don't enjoy the same stupid stuff you do! Maybe I care just a little bit more about what goes on in the world than idiotic jokes and bad music!"

"Hey! Where do you get off pushing me around like that? It doesn't matter if you don't like me, it gives you no right to touch me! None at all!"

"Who said I don't like you Finn? I never even said that! I just wish you would grow the hell up!"

"I have grown up! You just can't understand that not everyone is trying to be a character in a book. Or some other person you read about. Dammit, Piper, I don't want to lose my ability to have a good time! For Atmos' sake, you want us to be like the Rex Guardians!"

"Hey!" Aerrow started in, sharply.

"Be quiet!" Piper and I yelled in unison. I drew myself up and stared down at Piper. My other eye was starting to swell a little.

"At this point I really couldn't care less how you think of me Piper. I'm too childish? Fine. Whatever. But I'm not the one who goes flying off the handle like that. This is the SECOND time in the last two days that you hit me for NO reason at all. If I have to 'grow up', as you like to keep saying, then why don't you pitch in and learn some self control?"

I pushed by and sat myself down on the bridge. A profound silence descended on the ship. I was staring into the reflection of the interior of the Condor in the glass again. It was pretty, but nighttime was better, I decided. I saw Piper leave the kitchen. She angrily brushed her eyes and shook her head in response to something. I think Aerrow said something to her. Then she walked the opposite direction of the bridge and presumably went to her room. One by one, the rest of the crew came out too.

Stork and Junko studiously averted their eyes from me. I frowned, but my good mood I had briefly regained was already shot. I didn't want to get into it again, especially with those two. It would be like yelling at a kid and paranoid… person. Either way, it wouldn't do me much good.

Aerrow, on the other hand, pulled a chair up in front of me and glared at me. It was strange, really. The only other time I had ever seen that look on his face was when he was in combat. "Finn."

"That's my name."

"Go apologize."

"Let me think… no."

"Let me put it another way. We aren't going to Vapos until you and Piper make up and play nice, got it? As a matter of fact, we aren't going anywhere until you two BOTH start acting your ages. Piper just tried to do something nice for you and all of us today by making lunch, and you went back and threw it in her face, so to speak. And you know there is nothing she values more than her work on the crystals. If this mind moss crap is getting to you then imagine what it's doing to her. You know full well that you deal with chaos a little bit better than the rest of us on the crew and she doesn't cant deal well with it at all. So its your choice now, Finn."

Aerrow stood up and walked over to Stork, presumably to tell him to hold position until I did what he said.

I groaned.

It took me a few hours after that to calm down enough to even think about talking civilly to Piper. I mean, it wasn't like it was all my fault, right? She couldn't take a joke! If Stork had said something like that, no one would have blinked!

I was really starting to resent Stork. As far as I was concerned, he was the cause of all of this in the first place. I paced my way around the bridge but everyone but the pilot in question had left to occupy themselves elsewhere. I kept seeing flashes of red out from the corner of my eyes, so I knew the moss must still be affecting me, since Aerrow wouldn't be stalking me like that. I rubbed my temples and glared daggers at the Merb.

I still remembered my promise though. I wasn't allowed to bother him until I was mind-moss free.

It was growing dark by the time I finally got the courage to go knock on Piper's door. I waited a moment but there was no answer. I knocked again. Still, no answer.

"Aerrow," I muttered, "If I die tonight, I'm going to haunt you forever.."

I pushed at the door and it swung open. The lights were turned low and she sat at her desk. She had several painful looking implements that I could only imagine had some practical use for crystals arrayed in front of her, and she was experimenting on one crystal or another.

I don't know, I'm not so great with crystals. I just takes the stuff she gives me to augment my weaponry. I don't normally ask questions. She had some sort of safety goggles in place on her face and a look of intense concentration. I stood at the door until she was done with whatever it was she was doing, then when she put the stuff down, I stepped inside, uninvited. She looked at me and scowled. "Come for round two?"

"No."

"Then leave."

"Sorry. Cant do that. Aerrow says you and I have to play nice."

"Too bad. I don't want to see you right now, Finn."

"Tell that to Aerrow. I don't know about you, but I don't want to sit here in one spot, floating endlessly with no Terra in sight. So its either we make up and smile pretty for the others, or we sit here for hours. Cause I'm not leaving until I can actually go somewhere."

She stood up. "Fine. Sit there." She pointed to the chair. "You'll get bored eventually."

Piper walked over to her bed and sat on it, glaring at me. I anticipated an all out fight, so I closed the door behind me as I eased further into the small room. I leaned back in the chair and crossed my arms. "So."

"So what?"

"I'm trying to be a gentleman. I'm giving you the first shot at me. Go ahead. I'm open."

Her frown never left her face. It did deepen, though. "I don't want anything to do with you right now, Finn."

"Well, I beg to differ. You seem to have all sorts of things you want to do. I'm a little confused myself. In one day, you went from being unable to stand me to jumping me. Twice."

_And you liked it. _That little voice in the back of my head taunted. _You might even be able to get her to do it again if you play your cards right._

I shook my head slightly, clearing it. I only ever seemed to have problems when Piper was too close to me, and this time she was a good five feet away. I should be okay during this conversation. With this thought in mind, I settled back in the chair and watched her.

She looked everywhere but at me. She would glance at my face every now and again but she always looked away once more. I reminded myself that she was a decent distance away and as long as I maintained that distance, I should be able to keep my self control from slipping.

Although why I was worried about that, I don't know. Maybe it was the close confines of the room that messed with my head.

I didn't really count on my presence making _her_ uncomfortable. She fidgeted around on her bed like some caged animal.

"I don't know what's going on, Finn. I remember talking to Stork, but I don't really think I was paying him much attention. I had other things on my mind."

I tried to raise my eyebrows, but winced when my face reminded me other the beating it had gone through. I settled for a sarcastic, "Oh, really? Do tell."

A sharp look from Piper. She stood and started to pace.

Did I mention that the room was rather small? So now, she was pacing back and forward near me, and I was following her with my eyes. "I don't know what's going on. I am doing things that I normally would never do. I mean, earlier in the kitchen? I am not like that. I don't just hit people for something as stupid as an insult. Granted, there have been times where I felt like hitting you for the things you say but I never actually did it."

"Uh huh."

Back and forth. Back and forth. She was waving her hands in punctuation of her words.

"And really, I should actually be thanking you, Finn. You have been trying to save me from doing those stupid things.. like earlier in your room when I came to apologize. I don't know what came over me. And in the kitchen-God, I was mortified after you left and I couldn't even tell the guys what had happened! They thought you were just being an ass again."

She covered her face in her hands and stood still in her pacing for a moment. She was about a foot away from where I sat in my chair.

_Just touch her. One touch. Grab her hand. She'll probably fall all over you._

I screwed up my face and shook my head. I guess the movement must have caught her eye because she looked down at me through her fingers. "What?"

I shook my head again. "Its nothing. Don't worry about it." I gingerly rubbed the side of my head, and looked up at her.

She was still too close. I couldn't stop myself from letting my eyes wander down the length of her arm. And I know she saw me.

Comprehension started to dawn in her eyes. "Its happening to you too, isn't it?"

"What?" I asked defensively.

"This mind moss crap! Its affecting you just like me! Isn't it?"

"I don't think I've hit anyone in the face on purpose, lately, Piper."

"No, you dummy!" Quick as a flash, she was standing in front of me, or rather, crouched down. She grabbed me by the shoulders-what was with her doing that today anyway?-and shook me once. "You know exactly what I'm talking about!"

"I-uh, Piper. You should…"

She stared at me intently. "I should what, Finn?"

"You should… not.. I mean, you need to back off." I said, not caring that my voice was cracking as I tried to get my point across. I gripped the arms of the chair for dear life. What did she think she was doing?

"Really, Finn? Why? What are you going to do if I don't?"

What was I going to do? My heart was pounding. I was desperately grasping for that last thread of sanity I knew had to be in me somewhere. That quiet voice in the back of my head was crowing.

"I..I… uh…"

Was this what it was like to be crazy? Why was I all of a sudden tongue tied and unable to get meaning out of my mouth?

I mumbled something and closed my eyes.

"What was that, Finn?"

Her voice was closer. I opened my eyes to find her inches away from me.

"I-I—need… breathe. Just breathe." I squeezed my eyes closed again.

_Breathe Finn. Just breathe._

I kept my eyes closed and tried to talk again. "You need to back off, Piper. You don't know… you are making a mistake."

She shook me again. I cracked an eye open. She hadn't moved. "What are you going to do, Finn?" She challenged.

That voice in my head.. so insistent. My fingers loosened from the chair's arms almost without my noticing.

"I'm.. I'm gonna- I'm-"

_Breathe. Hold it together. When all this blows over, if you do something stupid, you will be so dead. DEAD!_

"I-uh…"

She was too close. She was doing it on purpose. I could feel myself slipping.

I lost it.

All of a sudden, with all the speed and accuracy that I am known for, I moved.

I knocked her off-balance with my initial rush, nut she didn't fall. I caught her up in my momentum and she was sandwiched between me and the wall. Her hands were still gripping my shoulders and my hands had somehow found their way onto her, one in her hair and the other resting on her waist where I must have put it unconsciously to steady her. I dimly noticed that she was in an awkward half crouch, one leg beneath her and the other splayed off to the right of my hip. I was on my knees on the floor. I still had some height on her.

She opened her eyes once we were done moving, then looked up at me. My chest was heaving. Because of how close she was, I could feel her heart hammering away. I was staring at her. "Piper…" I groaned, trying without much success to silence the voice in the back of my head that screamed at me.

_Go for it!_ It howled.

"Piper…"

"What?" she whispered.

My gaze dropped down to her mouth and lingered there. "You should…I… cant… I'm…"

I almost had it. I was almost able to pull away. Two more seconds of second guessing myself, and I would have been up and gone.

But before that could happen, she tightened her grip on my shoulders. Pulled me closer.

"But you're….gonna…regret …this…" I protested without much conviction.

_But I'm not…_I thought to myself as our lips met.

OOO

Okay. Wow. Not so sure I liked that chapter… but there you have it. Its not like I have much control over the story anymore. But the question now is, should I continue it, or leave it there?

I have the feeling there are some things that I could do to it… and I normally hate it when authors leave off a story after a romantic climax. But that's just me. I know! Let me know what you think in the reviews!

Thank you for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

I suppose the word 'awkward' comes to mind to describe exactly how I was feeling now. It certainly seems to fit…

But awkward just doesn't express the sheer weight of the situation. Not at all.

I sat at one end of the table. Piper sat at the other. Arrayed between us were Aerrow, Radarr and Junko. Stork was taking the time to himself at the bridge, muttering that he wanted nothing to do with our little conflicts.

Piper had her hands in her lap, folded, and she was staring at them as though they were the only things in the room she could safely look at. I was leaning my elbows on the table, cradling my chin in my hands, and staring up at the ceiling. Junko looked uncomfortable, more so than Aerrow, and Radarr just looked like… well, Radarr.

Aerrow held up a hand and took a breath like he was about to say something, then he kind of deflated. In a moment, he tried again with the same results. He frowned. I could kinda see where he was coming from.

Its not like this sort of thing happened every day, after all.

It was silent on the bridge. Stork was quietly piloting the Condor towards Terra Vapos. Junko was in the process of trying to sneak away to the kitchen in the most silent way possible, and we just watched him go. Radarr was just watching Aerrow, who seemed to have forgotten the basics of spoken language.

I suppose all of this makes more sense when you know what actually occurred to bring us to this point, right? So… here goes.

Remember how Stork had said that it was all pretty much about inhibition and the ability of this moss to take it away? Well… apparently there is a vast difference between inhibitions slipping and losing it completely.

Before I continue, I have to tell you, nothing bad went down.

Well, nothing too bad, that is.

Lets just say… I still had my wits about me. Kinda. I was actually trying to stop this all before it happened, if you remember. But even after the initial… kiss… I still tried. I tried so hard to keep the thought of my impending demise at the hands of Piper when she snapped out of her drugged delusions in the forefront of my mind. So very, very soon after she pulled me to her I broke contact.

"_Piper!" I gasped when she let me have some air, "You have…to…stop."_

_I was breathing hard, and since she was a bit dazed from my sudden break in contact, I took the opportunity to rock backwards and stand up. I stared down at her with my heartbeat pounding in my ears. The amount of willpower it took for me-me, FINN-to pull away from a girl intent on kissing me was monumental. She kept her eyes on me like a woman possessed. With any other attractive woman, I wouldn't have had any problems with this._

_But Piper?_

_Piper could easily kick my butt. I could try to delude myself all I wanted, but she knew a whole hell of a lot more about martial arts than I did._

_What's a guy to do?_

_She stood up._

_I know my breathing was ragged, and I could hear her every breath as she dragged it in through her mouth._

"_Piper…" I tried again as she got closer, "Trust me…"_

"_I do trust you, Finn."_

_At the tone of her voice when she said that, I felt strangely elated, but panicked. "No! Not like that!" I backed up and nearly cringed when I bumped up against her desk. If I had any control over the situation at all, it was quickly spiraling from my hands._

_She closed the distance as I leaned backwards. One of her hands curled into my undershirt that I had worn all day. She yanked it downward, eliciting a yelp from me as the cloth acted almost as a leash. She caught my mouth once more._

_Much more of this, I thought, and I wont have any willpower to speak of. I could already feel it slipping even more as the voice that had been incessant all day laughed its triumph in the back of my head. My hands grew minds of their own as they once again as one drifted to cup her jaw line and the other curled over her waist_

"_You.." I mumbled in between her assaults on my mouth, "Not… you don't… you…"_

_I managed to push her away slightly, "Not… making…this…easy…" I panted. She just watched my mouth as I talked and I realized that by now, she probably did not comprehend anything I was saying. I steadied her with both hands on her waist._

_I used my position to push her away some more. She responded to the weight of my hands on her hips and backed up a step or two._

_It was then that my pesky inner voice who was just enjoying the hell out of this decided to chime in again._

_Don't stop it now! It yelled at me, You are so enjoying this!_

_I winced, shook my head, and lifted one hand to my temple. I stood up, rather than leaning against that desk, and took a quick sidestep._

_Piper, in case you didn't already know, has very fast reactions. I had barely made a move before I thudded into the door. This time, my common sense went completely out the figurative window, and I pretty much got lost. It was all I could really do to stay standing and I was pretty sure that the sound of cloth ripping was my shirt, because suddenly, it wasn't there anymore. _

_It became a battle for dominance. She pushed, I pushed back. I may have had strength and weight over her, but I was off balance. I had pretty much abandoned all logical though-hah, funny, coming from me. I pulled her closer to me until she was pressed firmly up against my chest. Her hands went from my shoulders to twine through my hair._

_I could dimly hear a thud behind the rushing in my ears. A quick glance told me that one of the crates the she kept in there had fallen over. Small purple crystals spilled out of the box, but they didn't hold my attention for long. Piper had gotten the upper hand on me in my distraction. I overbalanced and very nearly knocked some other crates or some such down around me but I managed to brace myself with one hand to the wall before my palm slid across it and I fell again._

_I must have thrashed around a little to keep myself upright, too. I must have. That's the only explanation._

_That's the only way that the door could have opened like that. I crashed into the hallway floor-that's number three in the past day, for those of you who are counting-with Piper clinging to my shoulders for dear life. Her mouth never left mine. In that detached part of my brain that always seems to analyze things I don't find interesting at the time, I knew that the hallway was probably not the best place to be, considering. It also noticed something right off the bat that my conscious self did not see for several long moments._

_And because that little logical part of me is still Finn, it laughed at the expressions on Aerrow, Radarr, and Junko's face when I fell backwards out of the room, braced on my elbows and naked to the waist, in lip-lock with Piper._

"_Uh.." Said Aerrow, dumbstruck, "This wasn't exactly what I meant when I told you two to play nice…"_

Have I mentioned that I am easily bored?

Well, sitting there, watching Aerrow try to find words and fail, over and over again was funny for a moment, but I soon grew tired of watching that. Even Piper's discomfort was a bit amusing to me. I tried to be patient. I really did. But like always, my mouth decided to run away with me again.

"So.. gonna yell at me, or just do a fish impression all day?" I asked.

Aerrow stared at me. "I don't know. I'm really confused."

"I leaned back in my chair and folded my hands behind my head. "I'm not," I said flippantly, "I keep telling you guys that I'm irresistible. It wasn't my fault. There's no way any of you could claim otherwise." I leveled a gaze at Piper.

Hey, just because I enjoyed that little incident in her room didn't make her exempt from my wit.

She just blushed and slumped even further in her seat. Aerrow frowned. "Finn, you aren't helping."

I shrugged. Then I stood up. "Well, rather than sit here and be uncomfortable, I'm going to the hangar. I could use a break for a while."

I left. As I walked out, I could hear Aerrow turn toward Piper and she took a shuddering breath. I guess my presence there was making things hard on her. Maybe she would be able to talk when I was gone.

I didn't actually stop in the hangar. I continued outside until I stood out on the runway of the ship. I didn't go out here too often by myself. It wasn't like this part of the ship really held much interest to me. I never was one for watching the clouds pass by or admiring passing scenery. But it was a good place to go when you had things on your mind, and when you wanted to get things straight in your head. Or just a place to be alone. And I was tired of trying that in my room. Going to my room seemed to get me in trouble now more often than not.

It was dark out. I don't know how long Piper and I had been in her room, but it couldn't have been terribly long. I knew I felt tired too, but I probably wouldn't be able to get to sleep.

I sat down at the edge of the runway and let my feet dangle over the sides. Then I deliberately let my mind go blank. I started shaking. Not uncontrollably so, but just enough to where I realized that it was the confusion, not the cold, that caused me to react like this.

Now, I can deal with weirdness better than most of the guys. I am usually the _cause_ of the weirdness. But this? This was not me. It was not Piper. It wasn't anything that either of us did on purpose. All that had happened in the past few hours had been pretty much out of control, and I knew it. It wasn't until recently that I realized that Piper was more than a teammate. And I really do mean recently. Like forty-eight hours recent. I had this stuff inn my system for two days and look what had happened. If we had been in the middle of something important, say, a battle, what might have gone wrong? Stork had said that the strong emotions were the ones to be affected. But Piper cared about all of the guys here. I shouldn't be special. Hell, most of the time I made her so angry she wouldn't talk to me. She had hit me in the face because of that weird moss. How did I become a punching bag one minute, then a few short hours later, end up tussling on the ground like…that?

I thought about it some more. I had always thought that if anyone ever got together in the squadron, it would be Piper and Aerrow. I mean, they are so definitely made for each other. And even though I know he tried to hide it, there was something lurking behind his eyes when he discovered the two of us in that hallway.

This had the potential to be a bad thing. I mean, the whole part where Piper kissed me was bad enough. The whole squadron finding out about it was even worse.

But Aerrow? I think Aerrow was genuinely hurt.

I didn't even mean to make any moves on Piper, and sadly, I couldn't be sure whose fault it really was. I think…she initiated it all, but I ended up going along with it.

It had been a little while since I had come and sat out there all alone. Probably a couple of hours. But I was still surprised when Aerrow came out and eased himself down next to me a few feet away. I looked over. "'Sup."

He shrugged. He picked up some random piece of gravel and flicked it off the side. "You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

A pause. Another shrug. "Just asking."

"So…" I started, slowly, "What now?"

"Dunno. I just talked to Piper. She told me… well, she told me a few things."

"Really."

"She actually took your side of things. Said you didn't start anything. But she wouldn't talk much more about it. Told me to ask you." He stopped and looked at me, turning his whole torso to do so. "I really am sorry Finn. If I had known about any of this, I wouldn't have sent you to go talk to her like that. I didn't want to put you into such an awkward situation. But now, I cant just let you be. I need to know what happened, why, and what effect its going to have on the team."

"I don't know."

"That's not going to cut it."

"You know, I'm getting really tired of getting dumped on around here for things that aren't even my fault. Why cant you give Piper the third degree? I mean, its not like she's made of glass you know. I think the fact that she has tried to jump me THREE damn times, one of which she was successful, sorta proves that. You saw _what _happened, Aerrow. I _can_ tell you the why, but I bet Stork has a better way of explaining that moss crap of his, and as for how its going to affect the team? I really don't know."

I put my head in my hands. "Do you know what it feels like to do something you know is stupid, that you have been resisting, and just watching yourself do it.. you lose control. I didn't even lose control, not all the way. Piper did, though. Its hard to imagine Piper losing it. It went from being a pissy conversation about how I didn't want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere for days while she got over herself, to her literally dragging me into the pits of my own mind."

I pointed a finger at my head. "I can feel my control over certain impulses slipping, and I am beginning to think that I didn't get near as much of a dose as Piper did. I was able to resist most of what the last few days drove me to want, but she didn't. It was driving me crazy. Still is. She was probably insane after the first few minutes.

'I'm sorry, Aerrow. I bet you think you hide it well, but I can tell. You like Piper. You like her a lot. And I bet I'm the only one who really picked up on it."

Aerrow was silent for some time. Then he started speaking quietly. "I am surprised at how perceptive you can be, Finn. I don't think Piper even knows. But I always told myself I couldn't do anything about it because I had to hold myself above it all. We have a mission, and nothing can jeopardize that.

'But now…. Now things have changed. I don't know if this will be good or bad, make us stronger, or weaker. Stork told me that the underlying emotions beneath the surface tend to rise in accordance with this mind moss and for all he knew, she may just have a deep affection for everyone. It could have been you. Could have been me. Even Junko or Stork himself. But you were the most available. I kept you cooped up in the ship and Stork made himself scarce. So you were the only person she had regular access to.

'I think.. Stork was right. It was just certain conditions. She could have gone off like that on anyone. Either way, the real victim here is Piper, even more than you. From what I could gather from Piper, you had loyalty to all of us in mind to begin with. You kept telling her no, not because you didn't want to, but because you knew how she would feel when it wears off. I think that is one of the clearest emotions for you. Maybe that is why you resisted. In a way… that makes you one of the strongest people I have ever met.

'And also… I think you might have harbored feelings for Piper you never realized yourself until tonight. And probably that is why you broke down."

I was quiet while he talked. He was subdued and his voice barely above a low whisper. I shifted my weight, uncomfortable with the conversation. "Dude. She's going to be pissed when all this is over and done with."

That got a surprised chuckle out of him. "No doubt. But Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh… don't tell Piper about my feelings, ok?"

I looked confused. "Don't you want her to know?"

He stood and glanced over at the hangar doors. "Just in case everything falls through.. I don't want her to know. If things between you two go beyond some fluke loss of self control… well, I just don't want her to know, ok?"

"Uh… okay."

"And Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't know how things are gonna fall out… but whatever happens… I wanted you to know that … well, you know." He finished awkwardly.

I listened to his footsteps as he left. I stared down at the rolling clouds as they rippled by the Condor, silent as always.

It was just one kiss. Well, not just one. It was just one moment in time. It opened up a lot of possibilities to me. Things I had never really considered before. But it also uncovered a lot of things that probably should never have been roused.

Like how Piper really felt about all of us. Was this just a deep seated feeling of caring that got skewed into something carnal by a mind altering drug?

Was it only by chance that she latched on to me?

When she got over the madness… what would she think then?

I sat and stared at the stars as they slowly winked into existence and sighed, pondering questions that didn't seem to have any answer at all.

OOO

Ok… well, I'm trying, but I think I may have skewed them out of character a little more. But then again, in retrospect, something like this situation would probably NEVER happen to them, and I think that there is a distinct possibility that they would react this way. I have never been much a fan of two characters kissing and then realizing that they are fully and totally in love, and then there is the in-show hints about Aerrow having a thing for Piper (I picked that up. Maybe I'm just weird.) And also, since I am not a fan of drugs, nor taking the actions of people who are under the influence of them seriously, I cant just end it there when there are mind altering substances in the mix.

And to think, this was supposed to be a humorous one-shot. I think it is delving more into angst or maybe hurt and comfort, but I don't know. I didn't have a particular direction in mind when I continued it and I figured I would make a short but sweet fic from Finn's POV, but its not really turning out to be either.

I had meant to tie up a lot of loose ends with this chapter, but I think I simply opened them up even further. Like I said earlier, I may just be writing this fic in perpetuity the way things are going now.

As always, thank you for reading, and especially for reviewing. I hate to say it, but the reviews I am getting are what is really driving me to write this now. I usually have a hard time finishing what I start when it comes to writing and this is turning out to be pretty therapeutic. I enjoy hearing what you think.


	8. Chapter 8

I was right. I wasn't going to sleep that night.

When I walked back inside, pretty much everything was darkened in preparation for the nighttime. I knew it was already close to midnight at least.

I was restless. I made my way on to the bridge and leaned on the time pulse receiver. Stork, ever present as always, blissfully ignored me except to twitch one ear in my direction whenever I made some minute sound or moved. I just watched the gimbals in the beacon swirl around.

Every now and then I looked over at the green pilot. He wasn't doing much, having programmed co-ordinates into the Condor, but he stood there all the same. I was beginning to wonder if he actually used his room, or stockpiled emergency supplies in there or something like that. He was ignoring me with the tenacity of an angry Wallop, so I stared back out at the glass.

So reflective.

Kinda like me, now that I think about it. I was feeling a little bummed out at myself. Only two days ago, I was intent on just having a good time. And now, a few short hours later, I was using my poor brain more than I had in a year.

I was seriously getting a headache. But at least my little crazy voice was being quiet again. I walked over to the glass and put my face close to it. There was something weird about how the clouds on the other side broke upon it and slid soundlessly off over and around me. "I wish I were a cloud."

Stork didn't answer. Then again, I didn't think he would.

I shrugged. I decided to continue talking. "I mean, clouds are pretty tough when you think about it. They can make an airship go all….jumpy. And stuff."

I heard Stork open his mouth to say something, then I heard a click as he shut it again and ground his teeth in frustration.

"And they can hide things inside them. I mean, imagine we were flying into a cloud layer without radars or something. And then, BLAM!" my sudden shout made the Merb jump. Good. "There's a brand new Terra we've never seen before. And because there was a cloud around it, we just smacked into the side of it."

Stork still tried to ignore me, but when I looked back at him, I could see the annoyance sparking in his eyes.

I turned back to the glass. This time, though, I wasn't watching the cloud layer. I was watching the interior of the ship. Particularly Stork. I started to understand why he liked to stand here so much. You could see just about everything that was going on here without even moving your head. I grinned at myself in the window. "I bet clouds get all the ladies too. I mean, look at them. They're all soft and cuddly, but dangerous at the same time. That's what women like, right? Besides. They look kinda pink. Girls like pink."

"Why…" came Stork's voice, stiff with annoyance, "do you have to inflict your insanity on me? Is it not enough that you disrupted the lives of everyone onboard today?"

I glanced over my shoulder. "Oh, you're there? I didn't notice you. Its kinda hard to pay attention to paranoid pilots when you're pretending to be a sexy cloud."

"Oh, you're just being a pain like normal… I thought we had a deal."

"We do. I'm not the one who started talking to you. Who's to say that I'm not just having a hallucination?" I asked innocently. "Then again, maybe you really are infected after being covered in Piper's cooking. Isn't it possible that I'm not really here talking to you? Maybe you're under the mind-moss's control too."

I hooked my hands into the waistband of my PJs, hardly realizing that I had been wearing them all day. I looked back at the clouds. "I dunno, Stork. What are the chances of you contracting moss madness from getting some salad all over you? Salad, might I add, that was made by someone who was already… infected?"

I could see him spasm. I decided to press my advantage.

"You know," I continued, as though it were just coming to me. "I think I may have seen her sneeze when she was cooking it. Maybe right into the plate. Maybe those little molecules of mind controlling spores are making their way into _your _brain now too."

The only eye I could see from behind his curtain of hair twitched.

"Soon… you're gonna be juuuust like me." I grinned, "And right now, I'm a sexy cloud."

Stork actually cringed. I could have cheered in delight. Getting this over on him really did a lot to make me feel better. "What," he asked, deadpan, "do you want from me now, Finn? What can I possibly do to make you go away?"

I plastered a giant, and if I do say so myself, creepy grin all over my face. Then I turned and walked over to the Merb. "I don't know. Maybe I'm not even here. But when I figure out where I am, I'll come back and tell you what you want to do for me."

I walked out. I glanced over my shoulder once, right before I left, and chuckled to myself as I saw that he had gone from a rather calm demeanor to gripping the controls, mumbling and shaking.

That made me feel a lot better.

I gave myself some time to walk slowly down the hallway toward my room. Piper's door was closed, but no sound emanated from it. I couldn't remember if she snored or not. I paused outside there. I have to admit, I was really tempted to check on her. I felt a little bad about all the stuff that had been happening.

Scratch that. I felt really bad about it all. But it didn't stop that voice from trying to goad me into looking in on her.

_Just look. If she's asleep, no harm. If she's cleaning up after… the episode, then maybe you should help. You helped make the mess, after all. Remember all those crystals?_

I frowned and did a full body shake. I was starting to hate that voice. So tempting… yet so horrible if I was to follow its direction blindly.

I continued on.

There was light on in Junko's room. I was a little surprised. Junko was normally passed out and snoring by the time it was this late. I stopped and frowned at the door. Then, I knocked. "Junko?"

The door opened to reveal a tired looking Wallop. He didn't seem to have crawled out of bed though. I wondered what he had been doing. "Oh, hey Finn. What's up?"

"Nothing much. Just decided to see what you were up to. I cant really sleep right now."

"Eh. Not too much." Junko looked uncomfortable. He looked a little off to the side of me, like he was having a hard time just making eye contact with me. I frowned and shuffled back a step.

"Well… since you're probably tired.. I'll head on back to my room."

I turned and started walking. I couldn't help scuffing my foot on the floor as I went. I didn't know exactly what had Junko so upset, but he obviously didn't want to tell me. It hurt a little. I mean, he's my best friend!

"Hey…" his voice carried down the hall. He spoke quietly, but he had the type of voice that tended to carry.

"Yeah?"

"Uhm.. can I ask you a question?"

I turned around. "Sure."

"Do you know what's wrong with Aerrow?"

"Nah. Why do you ask?"

"Well… he just looked upset when he came in earlier. Did you guys fight?"

I frowned. "No, no fight."

"Oh… I'm just kinda worried about him. I bet its just the tension, what with what…happened. Think that's what it is?"

"Yeah. I bet he's just worried about morale or something like that," I lied. "Look, I haven't slept much lately. I'm gonna hit the sack. Any idea when we're supposed to make it to the Terra?"

"No idea." Junko responded. At least he was looking at me now. I couldn't help but think there was something on his mind beyond Aerrow's reaction, though. As much as I think of Junko as a goofy best friend type, I think he's more perceptive than people give him credit for. "You ask Stork?"

"I'm not exactly on Stork's list of people he wants to talk to right now."

"I'll ask him in the morning and let you know, then. We could always ask Piper.. but I think she's sleeping."

_Doubt it, _burbled my psychotic inner voice, happily. _You know you aren't getting to sleep tonight, and if you cant sleep, you damn well know she wont be either._

I winced and shook my head. Disregarding Junko's questioning look, I waved as I turned back down the corridor. "Catch ya in the morning, big guy."

Aerrow's room was next. I expected to hear snoring or something. But somehow, I wasn't too surprised when I didn't. His door was hanging slightly open and a soft light glowed from within. It really wasn't any of my business. I knew it. But it was like an invitation.

I peered inside.

Aerrow sat with the light near his bed on but the dim glow did more to hide his features than illuminate them. He had his feet kicked up on his desk and one of his daggers out. He was tossing it up and down. It spun through the air like a top before it came back down to land in his hand with the barest whisper of noise. Each time, he caught the thing perfectly, the hilt nestling into his hand as though it were made to be there. He showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.

At this rate, we were all going to go crazy, mind moss or no. No one was getting any sleep.

I held back a giggle at the thought of us all becoming paranoid like Stork-never sleeping and staring around with crazy eyes to anticipate danger at every turn.

I moved on without saying anything.

I settled down in my bed once I got to my room, fully aware that I was probably going to be awake for the rest of the night.

So you could probably imagine my surprise when I was awoken in the middle of the night by Piper's hand over my mouth and her eyes intent on my face.

"Mmm! MM!" I protested. Pushing her hand away, I tried to ignore the stomach lurching thrill that echoed through my limbs at the sight of her in my room. With me. In the dark. "Are you crazy?"

She had stood up quickly as soon as I started thrashing around. I huddled up at the other end of my bed. "You shouldn't be here Piper. What are you thinking?"

She sat down on the top of my desk. "I couldn't sleep," she said, eyeing me out of the corner of her eyes. She blushed and turned her head away. I just stared.

"So you decided to come into my room, wake me, up, and now what? Have a little chat?"

"Well… I didn't think too far beyond finding someone to talk to."

"How about Stork? He's on the bridge right now! I guarantee it! Dude never moves!"

"I don't want to talk to Stork."

"You know you shouldn't be here. Are you trying to get a repeat of earlier? 'Cause I can tell you, I don't think the rest of the crew will be near as forgiving is you jump me again. Hell, I don't know if I will be very forgiving. Do you know how difficult it is? I mean-oh, never mind. You're having a worse time than me, according to Aerrow." I curled my lip in disgust.

"But… if I stay here and you stay there, can we just talk for a minute? I have some things I need to get off my chest."

"As long as you don't move. I swear, if you move, I will scream like a little girl and Junko will come in here and…do something Wallop-y."

She grinned. Her teeth caught the dim light that I had apparently left on when I fell asleep. "Okay. I'll try not to make you squeal like a little girl."

I shrugged and pulled my blanket up around my shoulders. It was rather embarrassing, with her coming in like this. I normally just sleep in my boxers, so I felt a bit underdressed. I think she must have just noticed, because she blushed and looked away at the posters on my walls.

If this was the way things were going to be, I would either have to go to bed fully clothed or just lock my door every night. Neither really seemed too appealing.

"Well.. originally, I just wanted to come in here to apologize. I shouldn't have pushed you like that."

I said nothing. It wasn't often that Piper apologized to me, and lately, she was on a roll. I had lost count of the apologies in the past two days, in fact.

"I feel like its all my fault.. but that isn't what I came here to ask you."

"Then why are you here?" I looked pointedly at my clock. It was two-thirty.

"Why do you want to go to Terra Vapos?"

That was a question I wasn't expecting. I blinked at her. "Why's it matter?"

"I don't know.. I was just curious."

"Just because. I like it there. The people like me."

"Is that all?"

I grunted an affirmative. She looked vaguely dissatisfied.

Piper didn't seem to have much more to say beyond that. She just sat there broodingly. It was starting to creep me out.

"So…uh," I said after a while, "Was there much of a mess to clean up?"

She jumped, startled at my sudden noise. "Not really. A crate of unrefined crystals fell over. And a couple of my gadgets too. One of them was broken."

"Sorry… about that."

"Wasn't your fault. I think. Was it?"

"I dunno. I say we go with not my fault, though."

We lapsed into silence again. It was long pause this time. I think I started nodding off. The only reason I say that is because I jolted awake again. This time, she had poked my wrist. She was sitting in the chair this time, and had edged just close enough to touch me.

"How do you do it?" she asked.

"Do what?"

"You resist everything. I cant seem to get my mind off of… things." She blushed. Maybe. It was dark and I couldn't see too well. "And you just seem to be able to resist everything that I cant. I always thought if it came down to a battle of wills… Well, lets just say I never thought you would show me up, or all people."

"Aerrow seems to think I have a survival instinct that kicks in before anything else."

"What?"

"I know you're probably going to kill me when this all blows over. So I am trying to avoid that."

"Oh, now you have forethought too? You're really surprising me tonight."

"You surprise me too, Piper. For one thing, the fiasco from earlier. Next, you show up at my room. And then, you move from your designated place to wake me up after saying that you'd stay there to resist whatever temptation is driving you."

"….sorry."

"Nah. You aren't. You aren't even in your right mind right now and we both know it. But I have a question for you."

"Okay."

"Why me?"

"What?"

"Why me? Up until the experiment gone wrong-and I am still trying to come up with a prank to equal this to pull on Stork-you could barely stand it when I opened my mouth. And now.. well, no offense, but its like you cant keep away. Why didn't you latch on to Aerrow, or Junko? Even Stork?"

I narrowed my eyes and leaned forward. She followed my movements. "Is it just because I was there? Any other reason?"

"I don't know." She stammered.

I gestured with my hand. "You know, Aerrow thinks that it is probably luck of the draw. He thinks that I was just the one most accessible to you, and the moss turned your normal affection for one of us-me-into something weird."

"I don't know." She repeated.

I shrugged and shook my head. Made a fluttering movement with my hand as though it held no real importance to me either way. "Not like it matters anyway."

Piper stood up from the chair and hesitated for a minute. "I guess I'll go now… I'm sorry to have woken you like this."

"Whatever."

Still, she wavered. "Finn?"

I had already stretched back into my bed, arms behind my head. My eyes were shut and I was already drifting into dreamland. "Meh?"

She spoke, and this time she was so close to me. I could hear her voice right next to my face. "I'm having trouble again, Finn."

My eyes flew open. I stared at her. _Oh, crud. _"I'm getting really tired of trying to fend you off, Piper. It doesn't seem to work the way it should."

She was kneeling beside my bed, her eyes almost level with mine. She smiled at me, but that glazed look was coming over her face.

"No. No, Piper. You need to go back to your room."

"Finn…" Her hand came to rest on my shoulder. Her hands, I noticed, were dry and callused. I never expected them to be that way.

"Yeah?" I gulped.

"Would you… I mean.. I think I could handle this.. a little better… if…" her gaze darted up to my folded arms.

"Um…" I fumbled, sitting up. I tucked my blanket firmly around myself, covering as much of my body as I could. "Ok. What?"

It was almost a tackle, she moved so fast. She wrapped her arms around my torso and tucked her head up beneath my chin. The rest of her was in my lap as I sat there, cross legged and confused.

It was about when I started to awkwardly pat her back that the tears started. Not me, I mean. She started to cry. It was quiet at first, then more panicked. "It isn't right!" she exclaimed into my chest, "You aren't supposed to be the strong one! You aren't supposed to be so capable! Why am I being tortured like this?"

I considered being insulted, but settled for just being confused. She continued to cry. "Its so hard and you don't seem to be having any problems at all! Why? You aren't supposed to be the smart one! What makes you so special? You're the immature one. You shouldn't be this strong!"

I couldn't think of anything to say. Not even a smart remark. I had just been pondering those very same questions a few hours earlier.

So I just sat there, fulfilling a role that by its very definition, should never have been me to begin with. In time, Piper stopped crying. She fell asleep in my arms. I should have felt uncomfortable. I should have felt weird. I should have woken her up to make her go back to her own room.

But I held her, listened to her hiccuppy breathing, and rubbed her back when she got restless.

I couldn't shake the feeling that maybe it shouldn't have been me comforting her like that.

But I'm not supposed to be the smart one. Or the strong one.

That wasn't my job.

OOO

Okay, that one took a little longer and I don't think it was up to par with the other chapters, but what can ya do. Kudos to Madame Lady for making me realize that all I really needed to do to get my fanfic profile working again was to clear out my cookies and temp files. It wasn't letting me upload anything, otherwise you'd have gotten this chapter about six hours ago!

By the way, I have been in the mood to start on another story while I do this one. There's a poll in my profile. So let me know what you think. Or you can suggest in reviews if you have an idea that isn't in the poll answers.. Either way, I don't mind.

Thank you for reading this far. I'll try to make the next chapter better. I am trying to get the humor back into it, but Finn is getting depressed and Piper is reaching the breaking point, I think.


	9. Chapter 9

"Hey, Aerrow."

Our leader looked up from the map he was poring over while he ate his breakfast. He blinked at me once. "What's up, Finn?"

"I dunno, man. I'm.."

I think he could tell that I was pretty uncomfortable. He folded up the map and pushed his food out of the way. "What's on your mind?"

He was giving me his full attention now. I let myself fall into the chair in front of him. "Piper came to my room last night."

He was good. His face didn't register any shock at all. His eyes never wavered and the set of his jaw only clenched a little bit. If I hadn't been looking for it, I would never have noticed the way his shoulders tensed at my words. "Oh?" he responded, sounding for all the world like it was something that might pop up in everyday conversation.

Before he could jump to any conclusions, I barged on. "Nothing happened. I mean, nothing like that. She's actually still sleeping on my bed. I didn't sleep. Well, I couldn't sleep. But I didn't do anything to her! And she didn't try to do anything to me either.. mostly. But-"

"Calm down, Finn. Just tell me what is going on."

So I told him what had happened the night before. I didn't hold anything back. I knew he probably didn't want to hear it all.. but I had to get it out. I realized that I was babbling to begin with. By the time I finished, I was probably making even less sense than I normally do. But it was important for him to know these things. He was the leader, right?

I mean, I'm not supposed to be the strong one.

Aerrow was quiet for a time. "I don't know Finn."

"On the upside, I think this thing is finally blowing over," I ventured. "She didn't seem too intent on doing anything to me last night.. just the whole crying thing. Maybe she's finally getting over it."

He made a noncommittal sound.

I stood back up. I glanced over at the clock and grunted in surprise. Over an hour had passed. "Could you do me a favor?"

"What's that?"

"Could you… could you get Piper out of my bed? I don't think my waking her up like that is going to go over too well. I mean, she was pretty upset last night. I don't wanna make it even worse."

Aerrow stood up. "Sure. I understand."

I kicked back and stared at the back of Stork's head while I waited for my room to become vacant. His ears twitched as though he knew I was there. "So." I called from my vantage point, "How's them clouds doing?"

No answer.

I was doing a rather good job at pissing him off. I congratulated myself. I lifted a hand in greeting to Junko as he sat down next to me. "We should reach Vapos in another hour or two, I think." He said.

"Works for me," I replied. "I'm tired as all hell. I think that I might just sleep until we get there."

As though it was a cue, I saw Aerrow walk back into the room, followed by Piper. Once more, she was finding it hard to look at me.

In a way I was glad. It meant she was coming back to her senses a little, right? But I was also a little disappointed.

"I'm going to bed," I said as I stood and stretched. "I need my beauty sleep for my appearance at the Terra."

Aerrow rolled his eyes and waved me off.

It didn't feel like very long before the jolt of the Condor's gears touching ground woke me up. I bounced rather gracelessly onto the floor and winced as my window shades snapped open on their own. The day was bright-well, as bright as any day on Vapos usually was. I felt a sort of giddy excitement rush through me. This was gonna be great!

I was the first person off of the ship. Stork, being Stork, refused to budge. He made some comment about being tired of going off on suicidal ventures whenever we came to this place.

Personally, I only wanted to enjoy myself. Take some time away from the stresses of Piper and all that stuff that was going on. I mean, seriously. That was far too much stress. So when I ended up being mobbed in the street by dozens of fan girls (and a few fan boys, but we won't talk about that. Eew…) I didn't really look back. I needed some stress relief and I found it.

I'm not too proud to say it. I'm selfish sometimes. A lot of the time. I felt valued whenever I came here. I mean, how could I not? I'm like any other guy, I guess. And this was the one place where I didn't play second fiddle, so to speak. So I reveled in being the center of attention, because everyone knows, that's normally where I like to be.

It was a long day of fun, on my part. Junko was hanging out with me for a little bit but he too, eventually got bored with it all. He went back to the ship after getting my assurances that I would return soon. I spent the next few hours showing off to the girls of the Terra with my bow, teaching some of the guys the absolute glory of rock'n'roll, and I was in the middle of telling a sweeping lie-er, story about how I was pivotal in the rescue of the prison break of Terra when Aerrow came to retrieve me. It had just dawned on me how late it really was.

Piper was waiting in the lab when we got back. She had a crystal in her hands and it glowed an eerie green color that echoed with a weird light through her fingers.

"What's that?" I asked.

Piper smiled. "A hypnosis crystal."

"Uh… okay. What for?"

Aerrow crossed his arms. "Piper thinks it might be the solution to the mind moss problem. We might be able to use it to put up a temporary barrier, if that makes any sense."

"A temporary barrier?"

"Yes. Something like an artificial inhibition so I don't go crazy," Piper said with a false sounding laugh. Her eyes darted to me, then quickly away. She looked at Aerrow. "But we need someone trustworthy to use it on us. I don't think Stork should do it-he'd probably instill some strange phobia that I'd never get rid of. And Junko probably wouldn't go for it. He's a little too honest to play with someone's mind, even when they want him to do it. And there's no way I'm letting Finn put me under hypnosis."

Aerrow's eyes widened when he realized exactly what she was asking. "You want me to..?"

She nodded. "You're probably the only person who could shoulder that responsibility without seriously messing something up."

Aerrow glanced at me with the look of a desperate man. "I'm not so sure, Piper. Why not see if Finn will do it anyway? I mean, he's been sorta honorable all along…"

"No. I can tell you right now that there is no way he could do it, even if he wasn't suffering a mental defect."

"Hey! I don't have a mental defect!"

She looked at me for a moment. I shifted and looked away. "Its not a defect." I sulked.

"Anyway, I'll show you how to do it. I'll need Finn to be the test subject so I can demonstrate it to you."

"Waitaminute! You just got done saying that I cant be trusted to mess with your head and now you wanna mess with mine? I don't think so!"

Aerrow held up his hands. "Hey now, Finn. You know she didn't mean it like that. Besides. I'll be the one doing it, right Piper?"

She nodded.

"Good. So see, she wont be able to make you do anything weird or embarrassing. It will all be me." He cringed. "That's not what I meant. I mean, you know I'll never do anything to mess you up. Who knows, maybe you'll be able to play guitar afterward."

"I can play guitar already."

I barely caught Piper's eyes rolling. I sighed. "Fine. What do I need to do?"

"Its easy. I'm going to need a minute to explain to Aerrow what the whole thing entails. We'll come back out and get you in a moment, if you want to just hand out on the bridge."

"Fine. Whatever."

I walked back out, but I was still curious. I mean, they were talking about messing with my brain! So instead of actually leaving, I lingered outside the door, quiet as I could be. I could hear their voices, though just barely over a whisper.

"…sure about this?" That was Aerrow.

"Of course. I'm tired of feeling like this and the whole crew is getting out of whack."

"But what if something goes wrong?"

"Nothing is going to go wrong. Out of everyone here, you are the only person who doesn't use his opinion of people as justification to treat them any differently. And besides, you're impartial. I'm not afraid of you messing with my mind."

Mumble mumble, then "…think you're giving Finn a fair shake. He's been good about this whole thing, considering."

"I cant let him do it, Aerrow. If he did… I mean.."

I heard a shuddering sigh. "I think that even before this, I might have… I dunno… maybe liked him a little? I don't think it was ever to this level though."

Aerrow let loose a breath. "So that's why you wont be doing Finn's hypnosis either."

A long pause. "Yeah. And I meant it about the whole suffering mental problems thing. I know I'm not me right now. But I think that once the barrier is in place, I will be able to sort through whatever emotions I need to without having to worry about doing something stupid. And when I show you how to do it on Finn, then I know you will be able to do it with me."

Aerrow was silent for a time, and I chose that moment to withdraw.

About twenty minutes later, the pair came back out. Aerrow looked pensive and Piper looked a bit excited. "You ready for this, Finn?" our leader asked me.

"Ready to have my brains poked at? Sure. Whatever."

They sat me down in a chair. Piper left the room. I looked at Aerrow, who had his bottom lip in between his teeth and a worried look in his eye. "You trust me to do this, Finn?" he asked.

I frowned. "Is there any reason why I shouldn't?"

He didn't say anything to that. Instead, he raised the crystal. I remember the green light wavering from it… and then…

And then…I don't remember what happened, really. I just remember that all of a sudden, I jolted up, like I had woken up to a loud noise even though I had never been asleep. "Whoa…"

Aerrow's face was right there in front of mine. "How ya feeling?"

"Not too different.." I shook my head. "Should I feel different?"

"I dunno. Never had to do this before."

"How do I test it?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. Piper never mentioned trying to test anything."

"So… now what?"

We both stood up. He looked over at me. "I felt kinda dumb doing that."

My eyes widened in alarm. "Doing what? What did you do to me?"

He laughed. "Nothing bad. Just talking to you while you stared straight into the center of my forehead. It was kind of creepy, actually."

"Huh." We walked out to where Piper waited. She looked at me expectantly.

Even though the crazy inner voice I had been struggling with the whole time had diminished, it had always been a buzz in the back of my head. Especially when I looked at her. But now, it seemed like it was gone. Either that, or just muted to where I could no longer hear it. Looking at her though, I knew that even if that effect was permanent, things probably would never be the same. I felt my cheeks burn all of a sudden. It was as though all of the memories of the past few days had come back in a rush and this time I was able to look at them from a more rational point of view. I could examine every emotion that went through me, every urge, every desire, both honorable and bad. And I could remember each move she had made on me… each move I had wanted to make on her, but managed to keep myself from doing.

Most of all, I could remember how every touch felt. It came back, full force, like being run over by Junko's skimmer. I remembered the night before when I held her as she cried herself to sleep and I could almost feel her back in my arms again. Thinking back on all of the times I had somehow managed to push her away from me when we were teetering toward the edge…

I wondered how in the hell I did it.

How did I resist the touches, the kisses? For that matter, how did I resist her last night? I realized, all at once, that had I been less in control of myself, things could have gone a very different way than a simple few hours of comforting in my arms.

I felt flush all of a sudden as all of these feelings bubbled up and tried, one by one, to bring me down.

I kept myself from looking her up and down again. Not that it would be the first time I had looked at her like that… but the first time I would really be considering what I had actually had within my grasp. And from considering the worst part…

I didn't know if it would happen again.

"I…" My throat was dry. I swallowed. "I'm seeing things a lot more clearly now."

I must have sounded rather raspy. I coughed into my fist, then looked around. "I think it worked. I… I'll just…sit down."

Aerrow looked worriedly at me, then at Piper. "You sure you still want to try this?" he asked her, "Because we could wait.. see if Finn is okay?"

I waved a hand at them from my chair. "It works. I promise." I frowned.

At their questioning looks, I waved them away into the other room. "Go on, guys. Night's wasting. You're going to be fine, Piper. Aerrow knows what he's doing."

I drooped as soon as they left. "And I see everything so much clearer."

OOO

This one's short. I'll make up for it next chapter. But about halfway through I caught upon an idea that absolutely requires that I leave a break in the story here.

So… I hope you enjoy!

Thank you for reading.


	10. Chapter 10

I brooded.

I think that I would probably have made Stork proud. I jumped at just about every noise and at each random creak of the ship as she settled further onto the ground. Whereas I used to be sleepless because of the drama going on between me and Piper, and to a lesser extent, my worries for Aerrow and what the consequences would be for him if Piper's thing turned out to be more than just a fluke emotion, now I was completely awake because I was afraid of what would happen.

Three days.

It had only taken three days for everything to occur and now that it all had, I think that we were all a little changed. Junko and Stork to a lesser extent, followed by Aerrow, and then me.

Piper.

I didn't wait around to see her after she was done with her session with Aerrow. I went straight to my room, where I struggled with emotions that for been angling right below the surface of my mind. I finally realized that they needed some close up examination.

Bear with me. I'm not too good at this.

I touched on it a bit with my initial reaction. But it went so much deeper than that. I could swear that the roaring that grew in my ears should have been heard by everyone there as well as my increased heart rate. I know my face must have gotten red as soon as I laid eyes on Piper again. I couldn't tell why it all seemed so crystal clear so suddenly. I mean, in one instant, I could recall every breathless moment between Piper and me. From that first kiss where she literally brought me to my knees… and even before that, in the kitchen. I experienced a guilty shiver as I relived some of those moments in my mind. I admitted to myself that had that type of thing occurred now… now that I had gotten the chance to see what was really going on… maybe it wouldn't have been so innocent by the end.

And believe me, some of the thoughts that ran through my head were not so innocent. I tried to keep that from my mind, though, because if I didn't, I would start looking at Piper in a light that she probably would not appreciate once she was done with her hypnosis. Who's to say it wasn't just some spazzy side effect of the drug and nothing more?

I knew that what had happened had changed me though. I wasn't ready to label it or anything, but that weird, fluttery, almost lurching feeling that ripped through my chest and stomach when I thought about it…

I was pretty sure, now, that I liked Piper a lot. A whole lot. And the worst part of it all is, I didn't know if she would feel like that towards me once the mind moss was neutralized. And I also didn't know how Aerrow would take it. I remembered what he had said to me that night on the runway, but as I tried to put myself in his shoes…

Well, either he was lying or he was a better man than me. I don't think I could have just stepped aside like that. But I think that he was being genuine.

So I didn't think that he would mess with Piper's perceptions. Even though he cared for her as deeply as I think he might have… and even though he had acknowledged those feelings long, long before I ever gave it any thought. And really, I don't know if I could have been able to keep myself from altering Piper's emotions in the way that I was sure that Aerrow would never do.

And that's what I did, sitting there alone in my room. I sat and I thought about what might greet me tomorrow morning, if I managed to fall asleep at all. I thought about the little things I would miss, that I never fully realized I enjoyed. Like when she first touched my shoulder that awkward time she came into my room to apologize. And how her hands were callused but warm. Her breath on my neck as she fell into a restless sleep in my lap. In retrospect, I found to my surprise that I enjoyed the fact that she felt the need to seek me out for comfort. And in the same instant, I knew I felt a bitter dread. If this worked, and I was sure it would, then she would be able to look at her jumbled mess of emotions just like I could. Maybe she would be horrified at the last few days. Maybe she would distance herself from me.

Maybe she would leave.

The idea of never being close to her in those ways really hurt, but I think that if it ever came right down to it, I would leave the Storm Hawks before I let her do it. She was far more needed here. She was the heart of the team, in more ways than one.

I shied away from those thoughts, though. I heard the soft thump of footsteps outside. They were far too heavy to be Piper. They stopped at my door. After a moment, I heard a knock.

"Finn?"

Aerrow.

"Hey.. you in there?"

I contemplated silence, but realized that sooner or later, I was going to have to face the music. I opened the door. "Hey…"

I gestured for Aerrow to enter the room. He did, and we both sat, he on my desk and I on my bed. He looked about with a thoughtful, pensive expression for a moment. "Well."

I nodded. "She's ok?"

"Yeah. She was a little more shaken than you afterward though. I think she must have gotten a little more into her system than you did. Or maybe she just didn't deal with it as well."

"Oh."

Aerrow tapped his fingers on the desk next to him. "So…" he said in a low voice.

"Yeah?"

"Well.. what now, Finn?"

I could tell what he was asking. "I don't know man… I think… I think it totally depends on what Piper thinks now. I mean.. it was a wake up call for me."

Aerrow deflated a little. "Oh…"

"I… this sucks."

I got a nod from him in agreement.

"Hey, Aerrow."

"Hm?"

"What did she say when you guys were done?"

"Not much. She said that she could think straight now. And she said she had a lot to go through in her mind."

"I can understand that.."

"Yeah. Finn… I just wanted to know.."

I waited. Eventually, he started talking again. "Well, there's no real way to ask this delicately. I wanted to know… now that you can reason everything more clearly… what are you going to do?"

"I'm just going to wait. I realized something when I first saw her afterward Aerrow. I realized… you were right. I have a whole mess of feelings that I cant really explain away. And I look back and wonder how I had it in me to resist her like I did."

Aerrow chuckled. "I was wondering the same thing, myself." He sighed. "I don't think I would have been able to, moss or no. But…"

We sat in silence for a while. I had one more question to ask, though, and the chance probably wouldn't come around again. At least, not for a while. "Hey… if something happens… we'll still be buds, right? I mean… I don't think things will ever be the same… but they can be different and still be okay, right?"

"I hope so," came his tired sounding reply, "Because I don't want to lose either of you. And I just wanted you to know something before I go to bed.. and before you see Piper tomorrow."

I looked at him. He looked haggard and tired, worn beyond the limits of his abilities. "I play fair. I did exactly what she told me to do. So… just trust that her emotions really are her own.

'I didn't mess with them. Whatever she says tomorrow…"he closed his eyes once, and I could tell he was fighting something inside himself. "Whatever she says tomorrow… it's coming from her. The real Piper."

And then he was gone.

I pondered his words. Personally, I had not doubted his intentions or honor once. Not at all. Aerrow, like I have said before, didn't have it in him to be manipulative. I just could never see it. But then again, he had felt the need to come in here and assure me that he had done his best by her.

So did that mean that he had doubted himself?

Sleep was a long time in coming for me that night, but eventually I was wrapped in cottony blackness.

I dreaded the morning sun when it came for me that morning. I was anxious and full of dire thoughts all at the same time when I stepped out into the main living spaces of the ship. Normally, I would have bounded outside to the denizens of Vapos who adored my every move, but today…

There was only one person whose opinion I was concerned about. And she had the nerve to sleep in, too.

Aerrow and I sat at the table in a companionable, yet unhappy silence. Stork ignored me and I hardly had it in me to even think about making him mad again. The air was tense, but in a defeated sort of way.

I looked over at the Sky Knight. He was staring off into space, looking about as rough as I felt. He had a plate of toast or some such in front of it but aside from having nibbled at a slice or two, it was untouched. I shook my head and leaned back against the back of my chair. "Dude. Worst way to spend a weekend morning… ever."

Aerrow looked at me with a ghost of a grin. "Yeah, tell me about it. You get any sleep last night?"

"I think so.. doesn't feel like it. You?"

"I might have closed my eyes once or twice." He yawned, "I'll be glad when this is all over."

"I think it will be soon. Was that Piper's door I heard open?"

"Maybe. I'm going to go for a little stroll for a while." He said, standing as Piper walked into the room. "Hey, Stork, can you come show me again why I need an ejector seat on my skimmer?"

He must have talked to Stork beforehand, because the Merb moved away from the controls without protest. I frowned, all sorts of pride hurting. In three days I had barely gotten the pilot to move a foot away from the controls, and one word from Aerrow, and the guy walks right out of the room? Not cool. Aerrow patted me on the shoulder before leaving the room, greeting Piper briefly as she came into view. She smiled at him as he left and continued to the bridge.

I guess she hadn't seen me to begin with. She looked like she was lost in thought, carrying a bundle of maps. She set them on the table and had almost started in on.. whatever it is she did before she saw me there and started. "Finn! What are you doing here?"

"Um…sitting?"

"Why aren't you out there with your adoring public?"

I shrugged. "I decided to be here instead. What are you doing?"

"Just plotting out our next course. Aerrow says we're probably leaving soon."

She stood there but didn't move. I looked over at her and forcibly reminded myself not to give her a once over body glance. "So…" I drew out, trying to sound casual, "You….doing alright?"

She looked off to her left and then to her right. She examined the ceiling, then the floor, and several surfaces in between. Finally, she flicked her eyes up to my face before dropping them back to the table. "I don't know."

Well. That didn't tell me much. "You… wanna talk about it?"

"I don't know if I should."

I shrugged as though it was of no importance to me.

"How are you doing?"

I looked at her. Her face was downcast. "I'm just a little… confused, I guess."

"Oh."

Man, this was a conversation that just screamed awkward and uncomfortable. And the fact that it was out here in the open air of the bridge made it just that much harder to have.

I stood and brushed imaginary crumbs from my lap. "Sorry if I am making you feel uncomfortable Piper. I'll go ahead and go somewhere else."

"No, wait!" I stopped. Her face was strained. "Why don't we… I need to talk to you… that is, if you don't mind."

I shrugged. "Okay. Here? Because I feel kinda exposed here… maybe we should talk in the lab or something."

"Okay. Sure."

Piper led the way. Within moments, she was standing on one side of the center table while I leaned on the counter on the other side. "What's on your mind?" I murmured. It was hard to keep my thoughts straight as I looked at her. How could it be that I never really noticed how pretty her eyes were when the light bounced off of them at that angle?

Not that I would ever tell her that.

"Well… I was pretty worried about you after everything last night. I mean… I had it pretty rough. I didn't realize all the things that were going through my head without any direction over the last few days. I wanted to make sure that you were okay." She stopped. "You are okay, right?"

I nodded. "And you?"

"I'm fine," she said, a little too quickly.

"I doubt it," I snorted. "I was feeling pretty shaky and I was almost over that crap on my own. I still had to do some thinking last night. So I'm pretty sure that you are a little further away from being 'fine'."

She shot me an irritated look. "Okay. So I had to do some soul searching. I forgot how annoying you were without the benefit of being mind alteredly in love with you."

I know it shouldn't have, but those words gave me a thrill. It must have shown on my face because she turned away. "Come on, Piper. Everyone is in love with me. Just because it took a drug for you to realize it shouldn't make you feel bad. Now, come join the collective. We have T-shirts."

An uneasy chuckle followed. "Moss or not, your jokes are still lame."

"And you're still talking to me. Now who has problems?"

She sighed. "I do."

"Shouldn't make it that easy for me." I said. "There's no fun in that."

"Finn… I hate to start off like this, but I need you to _try_ to be serious, okay?"

"Yeah. I just crack jokes when I get nervous."

"You're nervous?"

"Arent you?"

"Point taken. Anyway.. I did some soul searching last night when the barrier went up. I know what you meant when you said you were thinking things a lot clearer when you first came out. It was like… like looking through a glass of cloudy water when all of a sudden, the murkiness goes away.

'I realized a lot of things last night that I don't think I could ever have known if I just muddled my way along without the hypnosis crystal. It was like walking around in a thick haze…" She blushed. "And when the haze was lifted, I saw everything I had tried to do to you. It was like a recording playing straight into my brain. I also realized how you had acted in the face of it all… I was so mortified."

"I knew it." I said dully. "You're gonna kill me now, aren't you?"

"Of course not. Are you stupid? If it weren't for you… well, if it weren't for how you handled things, then I would be a lot worse off than having to stand here with a handful of broken pride. What I want to do.." She swallowed. "I wanted to let you know how sorry I am. I know that you didn't ask for any of that to happen. You didn't even go blabbing to the guys about everything when I started acting irrational like that, even though I bet you probably wanted to. Through the whole thing… I mean.. you were really a true friend, Finn."

"Was I?" I asked. I found that now it was I who could not hold her gaze.

"Well.. yeah. I mean… you didn't take advantage of me.. Atmos knows you had the chance. My only regret is.." she shook her head. "Nevermind."

I frowned. This didn't seem right. "What are you regretting?"

"Its nothing."

I moved a little closer to where she was and noticed she was fiddling with her hands on the countertop. I leaned on the counter and judged myself to be approximately two feet away. "No. It cant be nothing. If you are seeing everything so clearly-like I know I am-then you are probably hiding something. I need to know everything now, Piper. I need to know what's going to happen from here because until I am completely certain of things, I'll always be trying to guess at what is going on inside your head."

She stared at me. "You've changed."

"So have you. And three days… well, that's a short time for us to change so much, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Well?"

"Were you always this perceptive?"

I blinked and chuckled. "You have no idea."

"Okay. But if you interrupt me, I'm going to shut up and never talk to you again, you hear?"

I nodded, and she continued. "The first thing I remember after coming back to myself.. was how I instigated it all. I was horrified! I mean, I could only imagine what you must think… and then I asked myself why I was so worried about what you, of all people, thought of me.

'That got me to thinking a little more. I mean… no offense, Finn, but you never struck me as the proverbial rock in the midst of a storm. So how in the world did you manage to hold up under all of that stress? Never once were you rough with me. You never expressed disgust or disdain. You were always saying how much I would regret everything when it all spilled out in the end. I, on the other hand, never thought beyond the moment, the desire, the thrill at hand. And you only gave in to me once.. and that was after I pushed you too far. And I knew it.

'Even then, you tried your best to protect me. And you succeeded, even though I was doing my damnedest to draw you in. You stopped everything before it went too far.. and it was because I couldn't do it myself.

'So yes. For that, I am ashamed. I lost my self control and you suffered for it. And even more than that, you had to put up with my throwing myself at you like a… like someone with no self respect."

She paused for a moment but I said nothing, and she shot me a grateful glance before she opened her mouth again.

"I wanted to say I was sorry. I wanted to say thank you.. I am not going to fool myself into thinking that whatever you feel for me goes beyond friendship, either. But I learned something when I had the chance to look at things in perspective. I like everyone on this crew, Finn. I look at everybody here and I see people that I don't think I could live without. But the thing is…"

She faltered. I caught myself staring at her lips as she spoke, listening to her words at the same time. She was looking at her hands now and she was slouched over them. Her voice was getting lower and lower. "The thing is, these last few days… all of a sudden, I realized something. I like all the people here, for good or bad. But you? Finn, I _care _about you. And I just realized it last night." She finished in a whisper.

I was quiet for a long time. She didn't look up. I don't think she had the fight left in her to do so.. but I was still digesting what she told me. Then, I just said one thing.

"You never told me what you were regretting."

She balled a fist and stood up straight turning towards me with a look of complete frustration. "Do I have to spell it out?" she almost yelled before stopping in shock. While she had been talking, I had inched closer, and when she stood up she found herself within inches of me. "I…I…"

"What are you regretting?"

"I just regret.. that…that… I lost my chance..."

She was breathing hard. She was so close. I could see her racing heartbeat beneath the skin of her neck.

I was amazed. I still had this effect on her when she was no longer delirious and out of her mind?

_Take a chance. Go out on a limb._

Not that crazy inner voice. This time, it was me.

_Touch her face._

"Breathe." I said in a low voice.

"Huh?" her eyes met mine.

I pulled her close. She didn't resist.

An inch. A few millimeters.

A breath.

Her lips were warm and soft. I hardly noticed when her hands tangled in my hair.

_Just breathe._

OOO

Wow. Talk about a journey.

This was supposed to be a one-shot. Started at 1407 words. Went from humorous to angsty, but I hope it wasn't too bad towards the end. I almost didn't know how to finish it, and truthfully, I really hope it doesn't seem too rushed.

Now that I did finish it, I can tease you with what other ideas I had in mind. I was going to make Piper go for Aerrow instead. Then I also entertained the idea that she would choose neither and remain platonic.

As for what happens after this… I might make a companion to this piece if interest is high enough. I've got some ideas for one-shots in the works. I already did a Dark Ace one shot the other day.

If you have an idea you would like to get me to try to write, feel free to suggest it. This was an excellent exercise for my writer's block, and I am actually a little sad its all done. I never really had an aim in mind when I continued it, but I suppose for not having a goal, it became alright in the end.

And before anyone complains, I'm sorry about relegating Junko and Stork to the background so much. They just didn't have much of a place in this story, with the way it was going.

I appreciate feedback. I thrive off of it, in fact, as much as I like to think I am aloof. Let me know how I did on my first real, honest to goodness chapter fic that I actually followed through on.

And as always, thank you for reading.


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